Searching for Forgiveness
by The Dragon Lover
Summary: When Kitty learns the truth about Team Meanies' ghostly leader, what follows are actions filled with regret, shame and guilt - and a budding friendship. DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Searching for Forgiveness**  
>Genre:<strong> Drama, Angst, Friendship, Romance**  
>'Verse:<strong> Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue & Red**  
>Characters:<strong> Hero (Kitsune "Kitty" the umbreon), Partner (Sakura the venusaur), Absol (Blade), Gengar, Medicham, Ekans, etc.**  
>Summary:<strong> When Kitty learns the truth about Team Meanies' ghostly leader, what follows are actions filled with regret, shame and guilt - and a budding friendship. DISCONTINUED.

_This is an _**old** _fanfic that I never got around to finishing the fifth chapter to; I was looking through some of my PMD stories/ideas when I remembered this one and looked through it again. It has plenty __of flaws and sometimes doesn't make any sense, but I still love it, as it was the first serious Hero/Gengar story I started writing. The fact that I never finished it doesn't mean I don't love it; I honestly just can't remember what was supposed to happen in the fifth chapter, and my writing style has changed since then so it would be very jarring to try writing for it now. So, just enjoy this in its unfinished glory, and maybe later I'll come up with a short synopsis of what the fifth chapter _might _have been like._

**Note**: Sakura's love interest in this story has since been discarded in my head!canon of the PMD games, in exchange for an NPC I'm sure you'll all recognize if you read my _Just to Satisfy_ story (another Hero/Gengar fic).

Characters:

_Kitsune or "Kitty" (umbreon, leader, name-giver and co-founder of Team Foxfire)_

_Gengar (leader, name-giver and founder of Team Meanies)_

_Sakura (venusaur, co-founder and partner in Team Foxfire)_

_Medicham (partner in Team Meanies)_

_Ekans (partner in Team Meanies)_

_Blade (absol, Member of Team Foxfire)_

_Etc._

**Old Author's Note: **This_ won't be a severely long story, but it will be more than one chapter. (It's a trend for my PMD stories, it seems.) After writing "Go Look It Up!" and playing with fluffy scenes between the Hero and Gengar of Team Meanies, I decided that, in order to spur real interest in the pairing, I had to write a more serious story for the two. And so, I give you this–it has the same characters as the fluffy oneshot, but it's another take at how Gengar's secret is revealed–and how the team will react. I hope you enjoy it, and I also hope you'll dwell over this pairing seriously. Spread the CurseOfLoveShipping . . . love!_

* * *

><p>This was crazy.<p>

What the hell was the leader of Team Meanies doing here? The newly evolved umbreon was surprised he even recognized her after the transformation, but then again, what other pokemon did he know that would–or _could_–evolve into that? Either way, he was standing in front of her rescue team's base when she woke up, telling her that she was a late riser.

_Well, being an umbreon, I technically should be nocturnal . . . man, the sun hurts._ Trying to ignore the pain, however, Kitty rubbed her eyes and squinted at Gengar, mumbling, "What do you want?"

"Kekekeh!" He crossed his small arms and snickered at her, taunting, "What should I expect from the leader of Team Foxfire?" After a moment of her glaring at him (she was never really a morning person, even as an eevee), though, his smirk fell into a frown as his arms returned to his sides. He then looked down at the ground as he mumbled, "But, that's not what I came here for . . ."

". . . Hm?" Yawning, Kitty wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that. After all, this _was_ the leader of Team Meanies; he could just be trying to trick her or something.

"I . . . came here to . . . ask for help." His foot traced a circle in the dirt as she stared at him incredulously. He looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I need to get to Mt. Freeze, to . . . well, it's important!"

". . . err, okay." She shook off her surprise and disbelief to instead examine the shadow pokemon before her. He was more than a foot taller than her and nearly twice her weight, so he would be able to boss her around if he really wanted to–which he normally did. And even with her type advantage, he was still a formidable foe in a fight. So, to have him _ask_ for _her_ help was something she had never thought she'd see the day for. She figured the world would end before that happened. _This better not be a sign of another apocalypse._ "Well, uhh, Mt. Freeze? That's . . . where Ninetales lives, isn't it?"

She watched him curiously as he tensed at her statement, but he quickly relaxed and waved a hand at her nonchalantly, saying, "Kekeh, that's just a coincidence! I have no business with that old fox!" Something about his demeanor made her think otherwise, but she decided not to press him for answers (_It's too early in the morning . . ._) as she nodded.

"Well, then, I'll go . . . (_yawn_) get Sakura."

She rubbed her maroon eyes once more to get the sleepies out of them but was interrupted when he suddenly stepped forward with a look of desperation on his face, making her stumble back in surprise. "No!" His voice was high-pitched and scared sounding, but he quickly recovered his composure and cleared his throat, correcting himself. "I mean, uhh, no, that won't be necessary. You can do it by yourself, right?"

She frowned at him, her temper rising. "Okay, Gengar, you're behaving really weird this morning . . . this isn't some sort of trap where you're going to tie me up and throw me in a river or something, is it? Because I'll gladly jump into it myself if I can finally get some sleep." She watched as a scowl formed on his face at her accusation, and realizing that he wouldn't do that if he was seriously contemplating tricking her (he would normally just smirk and avoid answering the question) she cooled off quickly. Shaking her head at her annoyed comment, she calmed down enough to add quietly, "Really, if you need _my_ help, it's got to be very important. Can't you just tell me?"

He crossed his arms and looked away, obviously put off-guard by her question. Of course, it wouldn't make sense why she would care at all, but she was more driven by curiosity than sheer kindness, as cruel as that sounded. Then again, he did wake her up after she had only grabbed three hours of sleep, and he was normally a complete and utter jerk to her, so that was to be expected. He remained silent, choosing to instead stare at the eevee-themed flag that whipped around on its place at the top of the flag pole.

She sighed and shook her head, yawning once more. "Alright, I won't be nosy. But, if you want an escort, it would be better to have two people with you. One in front and one behind, right?" She gave a small, forced grin. "And wouldn't you rather have a big, bad ol' venusaur there to protect you?"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes at her, but she did see his mouth quirk a bit in a barely contained smirk. He still wanted to look cool, even in front of his "enemies." "Yeah, whatever. Can you hurry it up, though? I'll be waiting at the edge of town in an hour. Don't be late, kekekeh!" He turned around and waved a claw at her dismissively before walking down the path to Pokemon Square, probably to get his own supplies from Kangaskhan.

Kitty shook her head at his ridiculousness before yawning again and mumbling, "And now I won't get any sleep . . . dammit." Deciding that it would be better to keep moving so she didn't doze off, she padded over towards the friend areas and traveled to the sunny, grassy plains she would find her buddy in. Seeing the giant leaves waving in the distance around a beautiful flower, she smiled and wagged her bushy fox tail before running across the soft, green earth to meet her. Jumping onto the seed pokemon's back, she heard Sakura give a loud yelp and giggled before squealing, "Hey, Sakura! Good morning!"

The giant dinosaur-like pokemon turned her mammoth head in an attempt to see her friend, but when she didn't succeed she huffed and asked, "Could you get off of me? I don't want to crane my neck just to see your grinning face." The umbreon complied and stood before her. "There we go. Now, why are you here? Don't you normally sleep in?"

Kitty yawned before proceeding to explain why she was awake at this hour. Giving her the entire story, she realized it sounded even stranger when said aloud. After she was done, they both mulled over the idea of Gengar asking for help.

Finally, Sakura spoke up, "Are you sure this isn't a trap? I mean, this _is_ the leader of Team Meanies we're talking about."

"I know, I know . . . but in that case, where were his teammates? If anything, he'd bring them to intimidate me into going alone. And he wouldn't be so scared looking about asking, either."

The venusaur frowned. "That . . . makes sense. It's still fishy, though. Why would he ask for _our_ help?"

Kitty sighed and only shrugged, too tired to think about it any further. "Well, we have about half an hour left. Want to get some supplies and go?"

* * *

><p>The umbreon swayed slightly in exhaustion before righting herself and staring up at the mountain before them. <em>Can't be tired now,<em> she told herself. _We've only just got here!_ It had taken a load of quick seeds to make it before the day ended, but now it was getting dark and there was no way in hell she was going to get Sakura to go up the mountain. Small as it was compared to a few other mountains they had been to (Mt. Faraway, for example), the venusaur had a problem with going through any dungeon with limited visibility. It was bad enough that it was cold and snowed towards the peak of the mountain, but in the dark? _Sakura won't move an inch,_ Kitty mused as they sat at the foot of Mt. Freeze, setting up camp for the night.

"Geh." She turned to look at Gengar, who sat at the edge of the clearing as far away from the fire as possible to stare sourly into the darkness around them. "We would be up and through the mountain already if she wasn't such a scaredy-cat."

"I'm not a scaredy-cat!" Sakura's voice was high and strained as her eyes darted around them, waiting for some sort of monster to pop out. "It's just–we wouldn't be able to see anything!"

"_You_ wouldn't," he corrected smugly. "_I'm_ a ghost who thrives in darkness, and _she_," he motioned to Kitty, "is an umbreon now."

"Don't bring me into this!"

Sakura shivered. "Well, still! It's too cold in the daytime, but it's even worse at night! I refuse to go up there and freeze to death." Seeing the impish look he developed, she quickly beat him to the punch. "_Or_ have you light a fire on my back." When she was satisfied at his scowl, she turned and moved as close to the fire as she dared before settling down and choosing to sleep. Gengar opted to doze where he was, leaving Kitty to watch over them for the night watch. The venusaur was out in a few minutes despite her fear, and then she was alone.

_Great._ Nearly falling over in exhaustion, Kitty decided she had to stand on all four paws if she was to stay awake. _I have to stay up all night and make sure nothing randomly attacks us. I doubt that would happen here, but with Sakura so paranoid I might as well to ease her fear._ Giving a soft sigh, she gazed out into the darkness, adjusting her vision to pierce the veil of shadows the night tried to trick her with. There was nothing there, so she turned her gaze all around the camp to keep a constant vigil at her post. But even with her standing tall and straight, she still managed to doze off a bit, and with a toss of her head she paced the camp to keep awake. _I'm supposed to be nocturnal, anyways. Just a little more, and maybe I'll be able to catch a quick nap when the sun rises._ No intelligent pokemon would attack at dawn, of course. In fact, no intelligent pokemon would be _awake_ at dawn–which was why she was going to go to sleep. Hopefully Gengar wouldn't wake her up then, eager to get going.

With that thought, her gaze trailed to the purple pokemon as her mind wandered to the enigma he was. _A jerk that pranks us one moment and asks us for help the next. Either he's faking it or just incredibly selfish . . . or something else._ She tried to figure him out as she walked in circles around them all, keeping to the edge of their clearing as she wore the snow down into a visible path. Her paws were numb from the cold, but she didn't care much as she simply flicked her tail across her back to rid it of the snow it carried before continuing in her trek. She was stopped when she heard a sudden groan, and she whipped around only to see that she had accidentally smacked Gengar in the face with the snow she had cast off. _Oops._

He stood up, wiping his face clean of the cold substance, and turned to glare at her, grumbling, "Ugegeh. Could you refrain from burying me alive?"

"Sorry . . ." She smiled sheepishly at his sour expression. "I was, uhh, getting it off of me, and I guess I got you . . . err, sorry."

"You better be." He gave an angry huff and crossed his arms to pin her with his irritated gaze, and she shuffled nervously before picking back up where she had left off before waking him–walking in circles. She could feel his eyes on her back and tried to ignore it, but when she was brought back around to him and forced to look in his general direction she lowered her gaze to the snowy ground. It remained like that for a few more laps, silence growing between them like a gulpin stuffing himself silly, before suddenly he stood in front of her, arms still crossed. "Stop it, you're making me dizzy!"

"Sorry." She didn't know why she was still apologizing, but she couldn't help it when he looked so aggravated. _It's like staring down Charizard from Team A.C.T.; scary and impossible to keep from looking away . . ._ She just stood there awkwardly for a while, glancing between him and the ground in embarrassment and feeling suddenly shy. _Why does it matter if I get him mad? He's such a jerk!_ Still, she felt intimidated by his height advantage.

"What're _you_ so apologetic for all of a sudden?" She watched him step back to sit down on the log he had been using as a headrest earlier, but looked away when he went back to staring at her.

She mumbled, "I don't know." Suddenly hit with another wave of exhaustion as she stood still, she swayed slightly and nearly fell over before snapping out of it and righting herself again. _I hope he didn't see–_

"What're you, tired?"

_Dammit._ She held her head high and retorted, "No, I'm not!" Her body was determined to make her look like an idiot, however, for she yawned as soon as she said that. She scowled at his knowing smirk. "I'm not!"

"Kekekeh, and what was that, a yawn of _boredom?_" He snickered at her fuming and watched her start walking around once more, making her even more furious. She stomped around a bit more than necessary, but it helped get her anger out without waking up Sakura since the snow muffled the sounds her paws made. She went almost full circle and turned around before she reached his log so she wouldn't have to look at him, but as she began to make her way around the other way she heard him ask, "What, angry because I'm right?"

She stopped and looked back at him, her voice low and heated. "No! I'm not tired at all! I don't need your _concern._"

He crossed his arms and scoffed. "Who said I was concerned? I just don't want something to suddenly attack us while _you're_ asleep on the job." He seemed thrilled to have pushed her buttons right as she gave a small growl, and he commented, "Kekeh, you're becoming more of a pokemon everyday, growling instead of trying to think of some snappy retort."

"Shut it!" She hissed to keep her voice from rising and waking her friend up. "I don't want to deal with your snickering and taunting. Yes, I'm tired–and cranky. So watch it, if you want to keep your vocal chords."

"_Ooh._" He smirked, and his voice dropped into a fascinated purr. "So the little kitty has a mean streak _after all._"

Her face grew warm at his comment (she blamed it on her anger at his mocking), and she quickly whipped around and strode angrily to sit on the other side of the camp, casting a heated glare over her shoulder at his snicker. _That stupid . . . ugh! I hate him!_ Putting her paws over her head and groaning, she mumbled, "Why'd I accept to do the stupid thing, anyways? I could have said no, I could've been all, "oh, sorry, I'm all backed up, try asking me in a week" or something, but no! No, I had to be all nice and curious and just go ahead and accept! There couldn't be any consequences, could there? No, _good _things always happen to _good_ people, right?" _I need to stop being a good person! God, I'm an idiot . . ._

"Are you talking to yourself?"

"No!" She winced at her shout, quickly glancing at the venusaur to watch her stir before settling back down into a deep slumber. She sighed in relief before turning to stare at the shadows surrounding them again, narrowing her eyes as she begged for something to attack them. _I could use a target to unleash my frustrations upon . . . ha, frustration. Too bad I eat gummis like they're going out of style, or I'd kick ass with that move._ Unfortunately, while squinting her eyes in fury, she nearly closed them completely in exhaustion, and she let another big yawn escape her as she scratched behind her ear with her hind leg.

She was suddenly conscious of Gengar moving across the camp, the sound of crunching snow loud enough for her giant ears to catch, but she remained as still and calm as possible as he came to stand beside her. Surprisingly, his voice was a bit softer than normal, but she figured he was growing tired as well. "How long did it take you to figure out how to do that?"

Curious at his seemingly random question, she glanced at him with a small frown. "How to do what?"

He motioned at her as if it was obvious, and then when she remained silent he groaned and told her, "Scratch your ear like that."

"Oh." Feeling a bit dumb, Kitty shifted in her spot as she went back to staring in the darkness. "Well, it took a few tries and getting laughed at by Sakura, but I got the hang of it after a while. Besides, when you've got a _really_ bad itch, you tend to learn fast."

He chuckled, a weird sound considering he normally snickered. "Don't I know." At her curious look, he avoided her gaze and cleared his throat, looking like he was reluctantly preparing himself for something. "Are you wondering why I wanted to come here?"

She blinked, then glanced away and muttered, "Well, yeah . . . kinda." There wasn't any point in lying, since it was rather obvious. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he gave a heavy sigh, crossing his arms and seeming to contemplate on whether or not he should tell her. He was surprisingly serious; it was a bit scary and made her wonder if she really wanted to know. She made up her mind as he continued to stay silent. "But, you don't have to tell me. It's none of my business."

"Well, it sort of is. I mean, keh," he rolled his eyes, "you _are_ escorting me."

"Then why not wait until Sakura's awake, too?" He seemed a bit irritated at the mentioning of her friend, which perked her curiosity even more. _He always seems to get angry whenever she's mentioned . . . does he not like her or something? Or . . . is it the opposite?_ Frowning, she asked him curiously, "What, do you _like_ her or something?"

"What–_no!_" He shook his head and scowled at the suggestion, making her giggle a bit. "Ugegegeh! Where the hell did you get _that_ idea?"

"I don't know, it's just–" She had to stop to muffle a giggle, just remembering that said venusaur was asleep. "Whenever I mention her, you keep on freaking out and spazzing. I mean, what, you're shy around her or something?"

"No, it's not–" He shook his head again, grimacing at the suggestion. He looked absolutely ridiculous in his disgust, and she couldn't help laughing some more, making him glare at her as she dissolved into a giggling fit. "Geh. What's so funny?"

"Your face, it's–" She had to stop to breathe, her eyes tearing up at her uncontrollable outburst. _God, it was so silly!_ She eventually calmed down after a while, only having a smile left over from it, and she ventured to reiterate, "So, you _don't_ like her?"

"No!" He scoffed. "Ridiculous. Why would I ask for an escort when I'd be "nervous" around them?"

_Them? I only said Sakura, but okay, whatever. I guess it'd be awkward being next to your crush's friends as well._ Keeping that goofy grin on her face, she went on teasingly, "Okay, so you like Medicham, then."

"_No!_ Geh. Dear God, no." He shivered. "I'd end up throwing myself off of a cliff."

She barely contained her laughter at his response. "Oh, okay, so you like being a mysterious bachelor!" She struck a pose mocking his arrogance and tried to imitate his deep voice, " "I'm too cool for chicks, kekekekeh!" "

"Oh, shut it. _You're_ not one to talk. You just hang out with Sakura and talk about _girly things_." He shivered at the notion as if it was some horrifyingly evil thing to do.

"Only because most of the guys I've met are _jerks._" She gave him a look that said "and-you're-an-example", to which he replied with a glared "shut-up." "And the ones who aren't just aren't my type."

"Oh, so "tall, dark and handsome absol" or "strong and brave shiftry" aren't your cup of tea?" He smirked when she rolled her eyes. "Well, why not? I thought those were every girls' dream guys right there."

"Blade's too anti-social and broody," she explained. "And Shiftry's so full of himself, he would humiliate _you_." She snorted. "Hell, I'd rather date weirdo Xatu!"

"That guy's crazy."

She agreed but didn't say it aloud. "Anyways, I thought Medicham was the perfect girlfriend? She may be a bit talkative, but so are most girls. She's got the figure, surprisingly the brains, and always listens to you."

"And is as snobbish as hell. Do you _listen_ to half of the things she says? It's always "dirty runt" this and "filthy brat" that."

"No, I try to tune her out and stare at Ekans' always twitching tail. It's rather fascinating to watch, actually; it never seems to just sit still, and it makes a soft rattling sound each time it moves."

He snickered. "Oh, I see. You're into the sensitive, cowardly guys like him, kekeh." At her indignant noise, he went on, "Well, it makes sense, because that's what every girl wants to change their boyfriends into. Why go to all the trouble, though, when you can just take the one that's already like that? Kekekeh, you can go write mushy-gushy poetry together and cuddle or something."

"Eww, no. And I suck at poetry." She scrunched her face at the prospect of being with the snake (_Not that I hate him, but . . . eww!_) before stopping to think for a moment, realizing the irrationality of the situation. _I'm sitting at the foot of Mt. Freeze, talking to Gengar about relationships. Sakura would _flip_. Well, if she could, she would._ ". . . How the hell did we get to this topic, anyways?"

He gave an annoyed huff and crossed his arms. "When _you_ decided that _I_ liked _your_ partner. And I don't know how you came to _that_ conclusion. You're just crazy."

"Maybe I am, but–"

She was interrupted by an unexpected yawn and then surprised to realize it came from her own mouth. Trying to shake her exhaustion off, she stiffened at a touch on her shoulder and slowly turned her head to stare at Gengar. He had put a claw there, but his gaze was off to the side as if he didn't want to see her questioning expression. It slid off quickly as they both felt awkward, but he eventually broke the silence with a mumble. "Go to sleep, I'll stay up the rest of the night." At her shocked silence, he added, "I mean, it's already been half the night, so I might as well stay up. And you need rest if you're going to get me through Mt. Freeze." A small smirk appeared on his face. "Kekekeh, it wouldn't do to have you collapse halfway through!"

She scoffed. "I wouldn't collapse–"

"Just _go._" He scowled at her. "It's strange enough trying to be civil towards you, so don't make it any harder."

She snapped her mouth shut and didn't argue any further, instead padding off to curl up beside the fire gratefully and finally relax her muscles. _Thank God I can finally sleep . . ._ Almost immediately overcome by fatigue, she didn't get to thank him before she slipped into the darkness of slumber.

* * *

><p>"Get <em>up,<em> brat!"

Kitty groaned and squinted her eyes at the sunlight that forced its way into them as soon as they were open. Her surroundings were all bright and white and cold, hurting her poor eyes as she scrunched them shut to escape the pain. "What . . . this isn't my house." Yawning, she ignored the strangeness to instead curl up and try to go back to sleep.

"Damn, she's impossible. Can _you_ get her up?"

"Hold on." Something prodded her side, to which she batted it away with a sluggish paw, but it returned and persisted much to her irritation. "Oh, stop being difficult, Kitty. Or I'll tickle you."

"She's ticklish?"

"Yep. Watch!" Suddenly, she was being assaulted from both sides by what she assumed were Sakura's vines, and she shrieked before writhing in an attempt to escape the torture. Eventually her eyes shot open as she leapt to her feet and scurried behind Gengar for protection, hoping they wouldn't follow her there. Thankfully they didn't, but she heard her friend laugh at her "hiding spot," commenting to the shadow pokemon, "See? She hates it."

"Kekeh, I'll keep that in mind," was his cheeky reply, and she glared at his back before peeking from behind him and directing it at the venusaur she currently had on her blacklist. Sakura looked pleased to have embarrassed her in front of Gengar (_Traitor._), but neither of them had a chance to talk about it as said ghost turned to look at the mountain looming over them. "Now, can we get a move on? I'm sure the scaredy-cat doesn't want to have to camp on the mountain." He looked like he was itching to get to the top, and she realized that he was eager to accomplish whatever it was he had come here to do.

Pushing her curiosity aside, she stretched her legs out and gave a contented sigh. She was glad to have gotten some sleep after all, and she almost thanked Gengar for it before realizing that Sakura was staring at her and figuring it would be better to wait until she wasn't paying attention. _Don't want her asking any awkward questions, after all . . ._ Shaking the remaining sleepiness away, she turned and nodded at him. "Alright, let's go."

"Finally," was his muttered reply as he got into the middle of the line they made, and she rolled her eyes at him before keeping her attention focused on what was ahead. The silence only lasted an hour after they had started climbing, though, when it was then broken by a simple, sour statement of the obvious.

"I hate the cold." When no one immediately responded, Kitty continued to mutter to herself. "My paws are frozen, my back keeps getting covered in snow, and I can't feel my nose! I hate this place!"

Her ranting was heard but not appreciated. "Yes, I do, too." The venusaur sighed at the shivering fox leading them through the piles of snow, shaking off her own miniature white mountain. "But you don't have to keep talking about it!"

"But it's still cold!"

"I know!"

"So I still hate it!"

"We get that!"

After an hour of this went by, only interrupted by small pauses to regain their breath and the occasional zangoose or vigoroth, Gengar grew fed up with it and took it upon himself to stop them. "Geh, will both of you shut it?" He looked highly annoyed at their petty arguing, as if he was familiar with the scene and absolutely abhorred reenacting it with Team Foxfire. Admittedly, it had been a welcome relief from the awkward silence at first, but now it was plain irritating. "If you don't, I'll push you _both_ off of this mountain!"

"At least it's warmer down there," Kitty mumbled, making Sakura throw her vines into the air in defeat and the ghost snort in disbelief. She kicked some snow away from her paws, glaring at the piles around them so high they could have buried her six feet under. "Stupid snow . . . why oh why did I push aside the idea of being a flareon? I could've kept warm with ease! But nope, being an _umbreon_ would be more fun, I thought. Oh, what a stupid, stupid idea."

"You're talking to yourself again."

"No, I'm–_gah!_" Without any arms to throw up in frustration, she had to settle with tossing her head back and giving an aggravated growl. She then looked over her shoulder to glare at his smirk, not caring to decipher whether it was taunting or teasing her. "I don't _care_ if it makes me look crazy! _You're_ crazy! You're _all_ crazy to have let me come out to this godforsaken–" She was startled by a sudden coldness on her nose, and she crossed her eyes to see a snowflake resting innocently there before looking up to the sky to see more drifting down. She moaned in agony, "_Ohhh_, now it's _snowing!_ Just great!"

"Hey, look on the bright side!" Sakura's optimism sounded sarcastic, but Kitty figured it was just her insanity twisting it around. "That means we're almost there!"

"Kekeh."

"Shut up. _Both_ of you. I swear, I never thought my _own teammate_ would go against me like this . . ."

"What? "Go against you?" "

"Oh, God." The ghost held his face in his claws. "Here they go again, ugegeh . . ."

* * *

><p>"<em>What?<em>"

She couldn't believe her ears. No, she _wouldn't_ believe them; they were trying to tell her that Ninetales had just said Gengar was the selfish human from the legend that got Gardevoir cursed in his stead. That was _crazy!_ Gengar couldn't be a human! That would mean that he purposefully told the pokemon back in town that _she_ was that selfish human just so she would take the blame _instead!_ And . . . well, he couldn't be _that_ mean, could he? Somewhere, deep down, she had still held the belief that he was good in a sense. But . . . _this_ was a shocker.

She could only stare at the shadow pokemon as he begged for Ninetales to fix it. The wise fox stared at him coolly, never moving a muscle. She waited patiently until he was done arguing his case, falling into a silence broken only by his panting, and then her eyes snapped to the Umbreon that was still staring in disbelief.

"Yes." Her voice was calm, soothing, but firm. "Gengar was the human who brought the curse upon Gardevoir."

Kitty took a step back as if she had slapped her, her face contorting with doubt and incredulous surprise. ". . . no . . ." She shook her head as if to strengthen her thoughts. "No, he can't be. You're joking, aren't you?" Even as Ninetales shook her head, she wouldn't believe it. "No, you and him are in on a prank, aren't you? It's not very funny, you know. I don't know what you're trying–"

Sakura placed a vine on her shoulder and muttered, "Kitty, I . . ." She tried to say something, but she couldn't while she stared at her friend's face, and had to look away. "I don't think she's lying."

"But . . . she has to be! He's . . . he's not–"

Gengar interrupted her with a blunt, "Kitty." She immediately fell silent at that, staring at him with wide, unbelieving eyes as his frown grew even bigger. His crimson gaze watched her as if expecting her to yell at him, but she didn't. He then gave a heavy sigh and shook his head, as if pushing something away. "I _was_ the human."

That completely shattered her resolve, and she took another step back, this time from him. At this, he tried to step towards her as if to coax her back, but she retreated even farther as she looked very much like a cornered rattata–even with no wall behind her. He looked stunned at her reaction, as did everyone else, and they all looked in shock as her lip quivered. She suddenly knew why he acted so strange, why he said "God" instead of a legendary pokemon, why he knew how difficult it was to adjust to a new body and how necessities made you try harder–she knew why.

"You . . . you lied to me." With that statement, she seemed to finally realize what he'd done. "You lied to everyone, a-and you blamed it on me. And you knew. You _knew_ it. I didn't have my memory, but y-you . . ." She gulped, trying and failing to hold back the tears. All of the times she had doubted herself, thinking she might possibly be the cursed human, and he had known the truth. He had turned everyone against her, and it was only with much pain and anguish that she cleared her name and could return to town again. And . . . "_You knew._"

Sakura's heart broke as she watched her friend break down, remembering the many times she had had to comfort the fox while they were on the run, and she tried to calm her by putting a vine on her trembling shoulder. "Kitty, don't cry. It's going to be–"

"_No!_" The umbreon broke away from her friend's comforting touch, shutting her eyes from their pitying faces. "No, it's not! It's _not_ gonna be okay! He _lied!_ H-he _lied_ about _everything!_" Sniffing and feeling rather small, she whipped around and broke into a run out of the cave they were gathered in, back to the vicious wind that froze her to the bone. Too torn to realize where she was going, she tripped over her own feet and fell down a small slope, luckily not falling over the edge completely. She came to a stop at the bottom but didn't bother to get up, her sobs racking her body as she began to feel numb in the harsh blizzard.

She couldn't believe it. Despite how mean he had been–how many pranks he had pulled, how many buttons of hers he had pushed–she couldn't exactly believe that he would have done that to her. To use her as a scapegoat in his place, to cast the blame of his selfish actions on her, instead of stepping forward and taking the blame himself. It . . . well, she shouldn't have been surprised. He was Gengar, after all. Maybe she should have expected as much from him, even if he _had_ saved her after Rayquaza destroyed the meteor. One good deed couldn't make up for a lifetime (or two) of bad ones. He had probably been planning to blame her from the start, when he first found out she wasn't originally a pokemon.

She just wanted to lie there forever until the pain of betrayal faded away, but after some time passed she felt a prodding on her shoulder. Ignoring it as she scrunched her eyes shut rebelliously, she heard a soft sigh before something picked her up by the scruff of her neck. Limp as a rag-doll, she let herself be carried by what was probably Ninetales back to the cave where they were sheltered from the elements. She was set down gently to the floor where she curled up and hid her face, but she heard the calm fox's voice somewhere above her as the winds howled outside.

"I'm the only one here, Kitsune. Open your eyes."

Reluctantly, the umbreon complied with the older pokemon's request as she squinted from the glare on the snowy walls. The gorgeous fox sat beside her, maroon eyes trained on the littler fox as a thoughtful expression took over her face. Kitty looked up at her with curiosity and a small bit of awe; Ninetales had always brought on a massive wave of admiration of her grace and control, and at times the umbreon wished she could be just like her. Right now, though, all that she could think of was what she had learned, and it caused her vision to water as tears formed once more.

"Shh, don't cry." Of all of the pokemon she had expected to comfort her, for some reason Ninetales was the last one she thought would. (Well, almost last–a certain few like Gengar and Alakazam came to mind.) But the fox nuzzled her gently, like a mother would, and strangely Kitty found it soothing as her eyes nearly slid shut at the soft feeling of fur rubbing against fur. It reminded her faintly of something her mother used to do when she was a child; she couldn't remember the words she'd use or how she looked, but she knew that her mother would pet her head and whisper to her. This was almost the same, or something like the pokemon equivalent, and the precious revival of such a pleasant memory calmed her down almost immediately. "Don't cry."

". . . Okay."

The adult lied down on her belly beside her, her warmth a great comfort in the cold of the snow, and she whispered carefully, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I . . ." Kitty opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again before finally sighing and looking down at her paws. "I don't know. Maybe." She thought about it for a while, collecting her thoughts until she could make proper sense of them. Then she looked to the older fox and nodded. "Yes, I do."

When Ninetales gestured for her to continue, Kitty frowned in deep contemplation. She only began when she was sure she knew what she wanted to say. "I'm sorry for being a little . . . immature, for running off like that."

"It's fine. I understand how much that must have hurt, to learn that so suddenly."

Kitty sighed. "It's just . . . I know he's a mean guy, and he's never been really nice to me in the past, but I couldn't . . . I didn't want to think he'd go _that_ low." Ninetales' ears perked up. "I guess I . . . sort of hoped that he didn't _mean_ to be so mean or something. Like he couldn't help it. But . . . I don't know. I guess I try to see the good in everyone." She gave an empty chuckle at the thought, and it sounded hollow even to her own ears. "Good things don't always happen to good people."

"Why's that?" Her smooth voice was comforting, but distracted.

Kitty didn't notice this as she went on. "Because that would be too easy, and that's not how life works. It's got to be the most ironic thing possible, screwing up everything because it's fitting or something: The good guy gets killed trying to save the world; the good guy gets blamed for doing something he never did; the good guy is the outcast because he's not like the others." She sighed, realizing how depressed she sounded and barely finding the energy to care. "I'm sorry, I probably sound like a spoiled kid or something." _Or would that be kit? Oh, who cares about specifics right now?_

Ninetales' ears kept swiveling around, however, as if searching for something inside the cave, and then she suddenly turned to glance at a wall as she gave an aggravated sigh. "Come out of hiding, Gengar. I know you're there."

Kitty stiffened in surprise and horror as, after a tense, awkward moment, a familiar voice came from where they were looking. "Ugegegeh . . ." Then, a face materialized from the wall, and soon afterwards the purple ghost appeared in the "flesh" with a sour frown on his face. He winced at Ninetales' critical expression and glanced guiltily at Kitty's mortified one, but he rose to defend himself all the same. "Well, you two are talking about me, so I think I should have a right to listen!"

"Leave, Gengar." The wise pokemon gave him a stern look of dismissal. "This is not the time or the place."

"Well, no better time like the present." He stood defiantly before them, arms crossed as he returned her glare with pleasure. "No better place than right here."

Kitty, unable to look at him for too long, turned her gaze to the pokemon beside her. Ninetales sat up straight and tall, authority radiating off of her as she stared Gengar down with a cautioning in her eyes. She seemed to be telling him to tread lightly on the thin ice here, or else he'd break through and take them all with him. The umbreon found herself envious of the fox's smooth and cool attitude. "_Leave._"

"No."

"You have no right to be here."

"I have all the "right" I need!"

"Why stay?" Kitty interrupted their argument quietly with two simple words, but it silenced them immediately as their gazes turned to her. Her eyes fell to her paws as she listened for a response–there was none. She took a deep breath and continued, "Are you sure you really want to know what I think of you?"

". . . You want the truth?" She nodded. "Yes." Her head snapped up painfully quick as both foxes' eyes widened slightly in surprise and disbelief, but Gengar had a serious expression on his face much like the one he had when he approached her for help–and it was even _more_ somber. His gaze was locked onto her, and it felt extremely weird for it to not be above a mischievous smirk, so much so that she gulped nervously.

"I _do_ care what people think," he told her, "especially people who go to all of the trouble to escort me despite past experiences. And I . . ." He hesitated for a moment, and her ears perked subconsciously. "Geh, I _would_ have told you. I tried, remember?" She opened her mouth to retort, but then she realized that he was right. And then she felt guilty for blaming him for everything, for jumping to conclusions before he could explain himself. And then she felt horrible. Her ears fell to lie flat and dejected on her skull, her eyes slipping from his as she felt truly ashamed. She was probably worse than _he_ was, now, or ever was. Way worse.

". . . I'm sorry."

He seemed taken aback by that comment. "Ugegeh?"

She gulped, not wanting to speak past the lump in her throat although she knew it had to be done. "I'm sorry. I always judge you before you get to explain yourself, and th-that makes me worse than what I make you out to be. I-I–" She choked on her words and fell silent, closing her eyes to hide the tears she felt building up. She leaned into Ninetales for comforting once more, although she was sure the tears annoyed her, if they didn't hurt her. She wasn't exactly sure how fire types worked.

By the time she had regained her composure and opened her eyes once more, he was gone. She had expected as much, and so she immersed herself in the silence that had fallen in the cave, feeling strangely colder, even when pressed against Ninetales' flank, than she had out in the blizzard.

* * *

><p><em>Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),<br>~DL ("Dragon Lover")_


	2. Chapter 2

Kitty didn't see the ghost-type again for weeks–but, then again, she didn't see much of anyone after that; she sat in the base staring silently at the walls surrounding her, getting the eerie feeling of peeking into her own head and feeling lost. She had taken the leftover supplies from the mission and was slowly using them, taking her time so she could remain in her solitary depression for as long as possible. Although misery loved company first and foremost, it also appreciated the longevity she so carefully nurtured that would be threatened if she let anyone in. She even ignored Sakura's quiet pleas for her to come out every time the sun dipped down or peeked over the horizon; she curled up in her bed and pretended to be asleep each time, just in case her friend decided to barge in with worry.

Tonight, the twenty-first night, she was going to run out of food. She had to go into town and get supplies, and she was still edgy about sneaking out even though only a few of the residents of Pokemon Square were nocturnal. She didn't want to get caught, because then they would either stop her or tell her teammates that she had left the base, and then they'd try to force her to come out, and _then . . ._

She was absentmindedly slinging her pack over her back to carry her things, but she froze when she heard a soft snicker echo around her. Her ears perked to try to locate the source, but it bounced repeatedly off of the walls and made it impossible to track even as it seemed to draw in closer. The fur on the back of her neck stood up straight, and her eyes widened as she desperately tried to figure out where it was coming from, whether it was one person or many, were they vicious, were they hungry, were they out for blood–thoughts crossed each other and collided like a group of startled zigzagoon in her fear. Suddenly the shadows leapt off the floor, and she gave a terrified scream as she was engulfed in darkness–

Only to open her eyes in the dark and realize it was only a dream.

She trembled as she wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to calm herself by taking deep breaths. _It was only a dream,_ she chanted in her head. _A nightmare, but a dream all the same. The dark can't hurt you, stupid. You live in the dark! You're a freaking umbreon, for Christ's sake!_ She shook her head as if to cast away her negative emotions, but her heart didn't slow down for a while. When her mind was sane once more, she squinted at her bag sitting in the moonlight.

It was still the twenty-first night, and she was still going to run out of food.

She sighed and thumped her head against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to muster up the courage to leave. _I just need to be quiet, sneaky, and as alert as a hoothoot._ With that in mind, she gingerly gripped the pack's strap in her teeth and made her way to the door–and was promptly stopped by a knocking sound. Her jaw dropped in surprise, dropping the bag in the process with a _thump,_ and her eyes flickered to the window to see a familiar but unexpected silhouette standing there, a hand blocking the reflecting moonlight to look inside the base. She didn't know whether to ignore the visitor or not, but the decision was made for her when the figure disappeared and all became quiet again.

She frowned in confusion. _. . . the hell?_

Then, her door was thrust open with a well-placed kick (a fighting move, no doubt), causing her to jump backwards in surprise as Medicham stepped in haughtily cracking her knuckles. "Well, _that_ was easy," she said to thin air, casting a glance over her shoulder and motioning for Ekans to enter as well. As the snake awkwardly slithered in with a grimace, the fighter turned to the base's owner and crossed her arms, looking expectantly at her.

Kitty was silent for a moment, glancing between the two with a bizarre expression on her face, before finally finding her voice to ask them, "What the _hell_ are you guys doing, barging into my house?" _The nerve of Team Meanies, _she mentally grumbled as she threw them a nasty glare. _I shouldn't have to ask to know that they're up to–_ She violently stopped that train of thought and tossed it out of the proverbial window, remembering what assuming had done before and feeling ashamed of herself. _I always jump to conclusions and make people out to be worse than they really are._ Her spirits sunk further into her depression at the thought, the awful feeling of shame creeping under her skin and causing her to shiver in the warm summer breeze.

"That's the same expression on Gengar's face," Ekans murmured, quickly catching Kitty's attention as he cast Medicham a worried glance. The statement sounded odd to her ears, and she couldn't hide the confusion from them as they seemed to evaluate her with suspicion. What was he talking about?

"W-_what?_ What's he look like?"

"Like someone just ripped out his heart with their bare hands," Medicham hummed knowingly. "Or that he ripped _their_ heart out, and he feels guilty about it." The analogy struck home, and Kitty's sharp intake of breath seemed to confirm Medicham's unanswered question as her eyebrow raised further. "So you _do _know what happened . . ."

"N-no, I don't!" She panicked at their accusations as her regret started to drag her back under. "I-I don't know what you're talking about! I'm completely clueless! Nothing to see here, just move along, now. I–"

"Whoa!" Ekans raised his tail defensively, cowering slightly at her wild and desperate shouting. "Slow down there! Nobody's accusing anyone of _anything._" When he was absolutely sure she wouldn't continue, he slowly lowered his rattle and heaved a troubled sigh. "It's just, after he suddenly returned from that mission with you guys,he'sbeen . . . distressed. He refuses to talk to us, and he yells for us to go away if we try." He raised his eyes to her hopefully, venturing, "We were wondering if you could fill us in . . . ?"

Kitty's mouth seemed to be sealed shut at his explanation, and she fought the guilty tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. _I feel so terrible. I'm still so mad at him, but he _did_ try to tell me, and the fact that I'm still angry makes me feel even worse._ She closed her eyes to try to organize her thoughts, searching for some fact that could help them coax Gengar into talking again. It wasn't as strange to help Team Meanies as it was the first time, traveling through Wish Cave to rescue Medicham while waiting for some sort of trap to be sprung that would let the team mug them and run. After it was proved to be an authentic mission, Kitty had relaxed a bit around them and was less cautious when it came to chatting or assisting them in any way they could. This, of course, was an entirely different matter–it included fixing the mistake she had made. She felt obligated to do so. She wanted to stop to think why Gengar would be affected at all by what she thought, but Medicham didn't give her that luxury.

"Well? Do you have anything to say?" When she didn't answer immediately, Medicham scoffed and turned to mutter to her teammate, "Let's go, Ekans. _She's_ obviously not going to help us." She seemed disappointed in the savior of the world, as if she had been expecting more of her, and that expression nearly broke her resolve even as it strengthened it.

When they started to move towards the door (still lying on the ground, as the fighting move had kicked it off of its hinges), the umbreon stepped forward and cried quickly, "Wait!" Holding her breath as they paused, praying to God and to the legendary pokemon that they would listen to her, she finally let it out in relief when they turned back around to stare at her in mild shock. Taking another deep breath to steady herself, she gulped to dislodge the lump in her throat and smooth her cracking voice into something less embarrassing. "I . . . I want to tell you what happened, but . . . I'm not sure if I should. I-I mean," she went on to try to clear up their confusion, "it concerns Gengar as well, and if I were to tell you two something he didn't want you to know . . ."

Medicham frowned as if preparing to ask what his teammates wouldn't be allowed to know, but a nearly silent rattle of the snake's tail stopped her in warning, advising her not to ask. She gave a reluctant huff, uncrossing her arms to instead place her hands on her hips. "_Oh, alright._ Fine. Is there anything you _can_ tell us?" She seemed irritated that she couldn't get direct answers as fast as possible.

"Well . . ." Giving it deep thought, her gaze wandered to the walls once more, a sight she had grown sick of during her self-induced solitary confinement. She itched to run outside in the dewy grass and drink in the moonlight like one would try to tan in the daytime. Her ear flicked once, and she drew her attention back to the expectant pokemon standing in her base to try to improve their boss' mood. "I . . . you could tell him . . . that I'm not angry anymore." And that was the truth–or at least part of it. She couldn't let go of the grudge against herself just yet.

Medicham sneered. "Why would he care about what _you_ think?"

Kitty could only give her a bittersweet smile in return, because she didn't know how else to answer. She kept it up until after they had left, when it finally dropped into a remorseful grimace as she stood alone in Team Foxfire's base. Fear began to creep in once more, her thoughts drifting back to her disturbing nightmare, and she decided that she needed a breath of fresh air.

Minutes later, she heard someone call questioningly, "Kitsune?"

She started slightly but instantly relaxed, glancing over her shoulder at the only other pokemon that called her by her full nickname. She tipped her head and greeted softly, "Blade." The snow-furred absol padded elegantly across the roof of the base and sat down beside her. "What're you doing here?" He had probably seen her from below by the light of the moon, although it was well-known that she liked to climb up there to recuperate from long, stressful missions.

"What are you doing on the roof? You haven't been on another mission since–"

"It's not that." Her voice was quiet without her willing it to be, but she couldn't bear to break the muffled atmosphere she found beneath the twinkling stars. Her gaze was focused on a particularly bright one in the night sky, a point on the Gardevoir constellation. Her thoughts were focused on the story, and the pokemon, that it reminded her of, causing misery to stretch over her heart once more, but she couldn't stop thinking about it no matter how hard she tried.

He seemed to accept her incomplete answer as he remained silent, and his display of loyalty caused her heart to break even further. She had such considerate friends that cared for her wellbeing and happiness, but she had no clue how she could ever deserve them; she ignored their worrying, constantly got angered at their concern, refused to be rational when the situation called for it, and was now avoiding all of them just to wallow in her self-pity. She felt like she was taking advantage of them all for her own personal gain, and her shoulders began to shake as she tried to hide her silent sobs in vain. She felt his fur brush against hers, and she leaned into him and buried her face into his flank so he couldn't see her tears. She felt so ashamed, but she couldn't turn him away in fear of making herself feel even worse than she did letting him pity her. She just hoped she had an audience of one tonight.

Blade wasn't the best with actively comforting others, so he took a more passive approach and let Kitty cry on his shoulder until her tears ran dry, the sounds of his sluggish inhales and her faltering gasps filling up the silence between them. He simply stared up at the waxing gibbous moon, his burgundy gaze unwavering and sharp as if to pierce the massive rock straight to its core. He was her pillar of strength for the moment, and she was eternally grateful for his support. She silently promised to make it up to all of her friends, somehow.

The absol tensed momentarily, and he shifted her off of him as he announced, "I sense a presence nearby. I will investigate." He swiftly got to his paws, his claws clacking against the auburn roof, and then suddenly faded away like a wisp of smoke–faint attack. She couldn't even hear him hit the ground, so she could only assume he was gone. She stared glumly into the empty darkness that seemed to echo her own loneliness, giving a soft sigh as she began to miss him already. He really was a great friend . . .

A fleeting chill up her spine was her only warning before she realized she wasn't alone anymore, and she barely heard the sound of claws lightly alighting on the roof once more. She glanced over her shoulder curiously, but a voice that wasn't Blade's called softly, causing her to freeze as if struck with an aurora beam. "Geh. Not angry anymore, huh?" The moonlight played across rich purple gaseous skin and jagged horns, lighting up a dull crimson gaze she recognized almost immediately.

_Gengar . . ._ "What–" Her voice cracked from her past crying, and she cleared her throat in alarm to try to smooth it out. She tried again. "What're you doing here?"

He didn't answer immediately as his eyes watched her in resigned curiosity, looking like a shell of his normal self, until he finally gave a half-hearted shrug. It was horrifying to witness, and her breath hitched when she thought that _she_ might have caused this change in his personality. She tried to hold the millionth wave of shame that overwhelmed her from her expression and failed horribly as a flicker of recognition sparked momentarily on his face. _Did he see that? Oh no, please don't ask me–_

"Why were you crying?"

_Dammit. He needs to work on deciphering those signals._ Taking a deep breath, she turned back to stare at the moon above them, examining its flawed surface as she tried to pretend he hadn't asked her anything. He decided to stroll across the roof until there was only a yard between them, but she still refused to talk. She wasn't going to admit to him that she had been having an ongoing self-pity party since she returned home. She still had a bit of pride left hanging on a string–or maybe she was tired of being embarrassed in front of him. The contest of stubbornness began in a silence that stretched across several minutes, until finally he repeated what he had first asked her.

"You're not angry anymore, huh?" His tone sounded doubtful, as if he didn't think she'd forgive him that easily. She was slightly annoyed at the thought, but then she remembered their long past together and bit back her sharp retort. He took that as a chance to continue. "You're not mad at me, at all?"

"No," she whispered, her eyes trailing down to the tree line to look for a sign of Blade. He had felt someone before, so why didn't he feel Gengar? Or maybe he did, and that's who he was looking for. Did he miss him? Unlikely, considering he was one of the best trackers on the team–a reason why he was often escorting pokemon through dungeons. Something was up, and she began to feel uneasy when it took longer and longer for him to return.

Gengar brought her attention back to him as he asked irritably, "You're not at all angry that I lied to the others and caused them to chase you around the country? Not at all?" When she remained silent, his voice rose a bit louder in frustration. "You're not mad that I caused so much trouble for you, when all you do is save others? That I blamed you for everything that I did, simply to escape the blame myself?" He was beginning to sound rather desperate, as if searching for some remaining shred of her anger.

"No."

He snarled furiously, "And why _not?_"

She had to sniff rather loudly to stop her nose from running, making him pause unexpectedly in his rant. After a moment of trying to pull herself together, she croaked, "Because I'm not one to talk." Pausing to clear her throat in an attempt to fix her scratchy tone, she continued sullenly, "Because even after all of this time, I still thought of you as a jerk, and when you tried to tell the truth, I didn't let you . . . and then when I found out, I was still mad at you, even though–" She stopped to sniff again. "Even though you haven't been remotely malicious, and you . . . back then, after the meteor was destroyed, you saved me." This fact had only really dawned on her recently, when she realized how much easier his life probably would've been without her, causing her limitless amounts of grief as she replayed how she had treated him over and over again in her head. "I . . . I never thanked you for that." Pause. ". . . Thank you."

The quiet that fell between them was almost more frightening than the look he had given her before, but she refused to turn around and examine his expression or say anything else on the matter. The grudge she had against herself was getting worse the more she talked, so she decided she needed to stop before it became raging hatred. She wasn't going to become suicidal because of him. She _wasn't._ Or at least she _hoped_ she wasn't.

". . . Kitty." Her ear flicked at his voice, but she didn't turn around. "You should stop blaming yourself for everything. You can save the world, but you can't save _everyone._" She frowned and glanced over her shoulder to inquire about what he said, but he had turned around and was already walking away. She let him go.

It wasn't until the absol came back five minutes later that she realized Blade had left to give them privacy. It wasn't until she was coaxed into her bed once more that she realized he had also left her some supplies. And it wasn't until she was nearly asleep that she realized that Gengar was absolutely right.

* * *

><p>"Thank you for accepting this mission, ma'am." The ariados bowed his head in respect, his tone deep with age and experience. "My daughter doesn't understand the command "stay with Mother," unfortunately." His pincers clacked together in displeasure at the reminder of her disobedience, and Kitty couldn't help but find his worrying endearing.<p>

_He seems like a wonderful father,_ she thought as she nodded back silently in response. _Makes me miss my own dad._ Shaking the thought away, she turned to examine the rocky entrance to Great Canyon as she asked politely, "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready when you are, ma'am."

"Kitty," she told him with a faint smile, and they started down the path in a relatively companionable silence. She warded off the occasional threats to her ward with well-aimed shadow balls, and so the trip was mostly peaceful. Her mind was allowed to wander as they traveled, going from thoughts of her family and how they were doing without her to wondering about Sakura's progress on her own mission. She grinned at the reminder, remembering the rather strange request they had received.

"_I've got a friend who needs company for a party coming up, but he's really shy and difficult to earn the trust of. Could you help me find someone he can hang out with whenever he feels lonely?"_

She had automatically volunteered Sakura for the job, and although she would have done it in either case the mobile flowerpot didn't appreciate the late warning. But Kitty had faith in her partner's honesty and was absolutely sure she would succeed on her unorthodox mission. After all, she trusted Sakura with her life, so others could as well–or something like that. Either way, she was the pokemon for the job.

The memory of the day she met her partner emerged from her thoughts, and she replayed the conversation in her head as if it happened just yesterday:

"_Uh . . . I'm Kitsune, but call me Kitty." Her nickname from school sounded strange now that she essentially resembled it entirely, so she quickly told the pokemon which one she preferred. It was much closer to her real name, anyways._

_The bulb bobbed up and down with the energetic pokemon it was attached to. She seemed eager to make a new friend. "I'm Bulbasaur!"_

_The brown fox cocked her head to the side, processing this information with inexhaustible curiosity. "But, are there any other bulbasaur?"_

_The pokemon paused, as if she had to think about it for a moment. "Well, yeah, I'm sure there are . . ."_

"_Then I can't call you Bulbasaur!"_

_The grass-and-poison-type frowned in bewilderment. "Why?"_

"_Because it'll be confusing. Which bulbasaur would I be talking to?"_

_She blinked, as if the thought hadn't occurred to her before. ". . . Oh. Good point." After much deliberation and translation, she settled on "Sakura," which Kitty said meant "cherry blossom" in some human tongue._

Her ears picked up a scrabbling of talons across rock in her daydreaming, and she swiftly pounced on the doduo that had caught sight of Ariados and tried to attack him. She was efficient in her battling, using only the moves that were necessary to conserve energy for enduring long dungeons, and she saw a glimmer of admiration in the bug's eyes when she stepped away from the unconscious pokemon. Coughing lightly to try to cover up her embarrassment, she continued on ahead of him to clear the path going deeper into the canyon where they hoped to find his daughter. Once again, her mind took off as her imagination soared away from her paws on the ground to the cloudless sky above. If she hadn't left reality at the foot of the fainted doduo, she would've been embarrassed of her terrible manners.

Unfortunately, her thoughts began to drift to a more depressing subject: Gengar. Her gait shortened to a thoughtful pace as she speculated where he had gone after that night a week ago; she hadn't seen him since, and his teammates hadn't bothered her either to reveal the results of their conversation. She was completely in the dark, and she was quickly beginning to realize that even an umbreon could feel out of place there. She couldn't help but worry over him, especially after the encouraging words he had surprisingly left her with that night, and she wanted to make it up to him after all of the terrible things she'd put him through. (She didn't dare think about how ironic that sounded even in her own head.) She couldn't do that, however, when she didn't get a chance to _see_ him, let alone _talk_ to him.

Her conscious tried to make her feel guilty about her sudden compassion as she asked herself why she was suddenly ready to drop everything and make him feel better, as if she was only doing this out of guilt in the first place. She pushed the thought out of her head, though, because although it might've _begun_ as a seed of guilt it had blossomed into an honest desire to fix the wrongs of the past, both his and hers. If she could get over his mistakes, then maybe he could as well . . . and maybe she could get over her own.

"Kitty?" When his voice didn't automatically grab her attention, Ariados quickened his pace to walk beside her and tried again. "Kitty? . . . Ma'am?"

She snapped out of her stupor after a bit of blinking, and then she was humiliated for being so out of it as she apologized profusely for her daydreaming. "I'm sorry, I was just–what is it, Ariados?" She planned to keep her ears as alert as radars the next time she "wandered off."

"Ah, it's nothing. But . . ." He gave her a concerned glance before pointing out, "You've been really quiet. I've heard you talked my friend Scyther's ear off once, and yet you've barely said a word. Are you . . . worried about something?"

She gulped. _This guy should've been named Sherlock Holmes._ "I'm sorry, I'm just . . . thinking about a friend." She couldn't stop the helpless sigh from escaping her, which seemed to spark recognition in the arachnid's eyes as he clicked his mandibles in (what she assumed was) curiosity. "I . . . haven't heard from him in a while."

"Did you have a fight?"

"Not exactly." _I'm not sure you could call what happened a "fight."_ Her gaze lowered to watch the ground crawl beneath her paws as she wondered what could be going on in the ghost's head. _What I'd give to be a psychic-type. _"I'm just . . . worried about him, is all."

He offered a hum of understanding, earning a curious glance from his escort as he trained his eyes on the path ahead of them. He paused thoughtfully, as if to reassemble his words, before he gave his opinion life. "I'm sure that if he needs to, he'll contact you. Otherwise, it might be best to just leave him be. Pokemon don't like to be crowded and need time to cool down."

She glanced at him with hope but skepticism in her eyes, and then decided that she could trust this fatherly figure. "What if he . . . is guilty over something? Or–or he's sitting alone in self-pity?" _God knows that _I_ know that's never a good thing to prolong._

"Ah. In that case," he advised her as he scuttled over a rock in their way, "perhaps he needs someone to tell him it's not his fault–or, if it _is_ undeniably his fault, that the past should be kept behind you." After a moment of silence where they exchanged glances, he added cheerfully, "And something tells me you've heard similar words before. You weren't surprised by my advice." He sounded as if he was proud to share the same thoughts with someone else, and his legs seemed to twitch in a habitual pattern as his eyes glazed over in memory for a few moments.

When she nodded sheepishly to confirm his beliefs, he returned the gesture with a spidery grin. "Well, most advice isn't helpful to the advisor unless it's given back to him someday." He then started to hum a merry tune, scaling the occasional obstacle with ease only a six-limbed creature could develop as he scoured the landscape for his daughter, leaving Kitty's jaw to drop in shock. _How'd he figure out that Gengar gave me the advice in the first place?_ It was slightly eerie how he seemed to be so wise, but then again his age wasn't so apparent that she could guess it in a heartbeat. He could be forty years older than her, and she wouldn't be able to tell; he had a spring in his step that even she envied, filled with such joy and gratitude for every day he lived that she couldn't help but enjoy life a bit herself. She smiled, appreciating Ariados' warm and caring nature that was almost painfully identical to her father's. _I might have to force him to adopt me._

Then, remembering the mission she was supposed to be doing, she perked up and asked, "Oh, I almost forgot! What does your daughter look like, exactly?"

"Like the world's her clamperl." Ignoring her giggle as if he hadn't been trying to make a joke, he went on with appropriate gestures, "She's about yay-high, a deep chesto berry blue with a mighty long horn atop her head. She has claws on her hands and feet that help her strip bark from trees to reach the sap, and she's remarkably strong. Her name–"

"Heracross," the umbreon interrupted, grinning excitedly when he gave a confirming nod. "Oh! Okay, I know _exactly_ what to look for." _I just hope I don't mistake her for one of the other little heracross that run around here._ Scanning the surrounding rock for a hint of blue, she then asked curiously, "Does she have any special markings or scars to set her apart from others?"

He shook his head, but then donned a contemplative expression. "No, but she does like to toss rocks with her horn. Hopefully she won't crush us on accident."

_Hopefully?_ Kitty chuckled nervously as her eyes darted over the mouth of the canyon, waiting for a giant boulder to come tumbling down to flatten them into rather unappetizing pancakes. _At least I would die knowing that I hung out with the coolest spider in the world. Dad would be proud._ She didn't think her mother would share the same sentiment, though–faint memories including spiderwebs and brooms swiftly reinforced that thought. She jokingly made a note not to introduce her to Sherlock Holmes the Ariados. _She'd throw all of those books into the fireplace._

* * *

><p>Kitty nearly had a heart-attack when she brushed past a familiar ghostly presence in Pokemon Square, and she whipped around to examine Gengar's retreating back as he walked with a wide gait down the moonlit street. Determined to get a chance to talk to him, the umbreon dashed after him, gritting her teeth when he quickened his pace to escape her. <em>Oh, no, you don't! It's been nearly two weeks!<em> Gaining a sudden burst in speed and courage, she raced past him as a blur and skidded to a halt in front of him, turning to face him as he stopped in the middle of the path. She couldn't keep the triumph of catching him from creeping into her voice when she breathed, "Finally! I was afraid you'd moved away or something!" Her happiness quickly evaporated when his expression faded into resignation and his shoulders slumped slightly, and she calmed down enough to rest on her haunches and give him an even stare.

"What?" His growl wasn't as gruff as it should've been, and she was disheartened by his drastic change in character. He should've been taunting her for wanting his attention or something, not looking as if he was ready for holy retribution. He crossed his arms to show he wasn't amused, but it was a weak gesture as far as she was concerned. "Make it quick."

"I . . ." She suddenly found that the words wouldn't come out, and she mentally kicked herself as she struggled to form coherent sentences. "You don't . . . I realized . . ."

". . . Ugegeh. Spit it _out,_ already." A spark of his old self returned as he furrowed his eyebrows, frustration causing his trademark groan to fall from his gritted teeth. She perked up at the familiar sound, and a plan slowly began to form in her mind as she gave him a very Team Meanies-esque grin, making him frown in confusion. ". . . What're you smirking for?"

"Oh, nothing!" She held her head and tail high, pretending to be as snooty as she had seen Medicham when they were still rivaling teams. "Just wondering when you're going to stop throwing yourself a self-pity party, is all!" She was pleased when he bristled at her accusation, and she wondered giddily, _Is this how he feels whenever he taunts me? God, it's addicting._

"Keh, I ain't throwing a "pity party!" " Gengar scowled at the idea as if he abhorred the very thought of it.

"Oh? Then what's with that sour frown of yours?" Her grin evolved into a sly one as she asked, "Are you hoping someone'll feel bad for you and magically make your life better?"

"_No!_" He glared at her, and it felt strange that she was thrilled to see it directed towards her once again. _I have issues._ "If _that's_ all you wanted to bother me with–"

"Oh, no, that's _not_ it." She shook her head in a visual demonstration. "After all, I haven't seen you in a long while, and I have _so much_ to catch up on. Right?" She grinned at his irritated huff, and she got to her feet as she swished her tail in welcome. "So come on! Walk with me, talk with me."

There was a moment where she feared he would reject her offer and walk away from her, leaving her to once again look for a chance to talk to him. She discreetly held her breath as she waited for his response, dearly praying he would accompany her for at least the five-minute-walk to her place. To her immense relief, he sighed and reluctantly stepped into place beside her, and she turned with a cheerful bounce in her stride to begin the rather short trek to Team Foxfire's base. She hummed a tune from a blurry part of her memory, taking in the night air with all of the delight of a munchlax in a buffet as she occasionally glanced at her companion walking silent beside her. She wanted to start a conversation with him, but she didn't know how to go about it. A full minute passed before she attempted to talk to him.

"Hey, what's your _real_ name?" At his startled grunt, she continued, "I mean, since you _were_ a human before, you had a first and last name. I'm _pretty_ sure neither of them were Gengar," she added, winking playfully at him as she tried to loosen the tension she saw in his ghostly form.

". . . geh." He glanced away, mumbling, "I'd rather not . . . I'm not human anymore, so . . ."

"Mm, I guess that makes sense." After considering it for a moment, she told him, "But, if you don't at least acknowledge the past, you're "doomed to repeat them," or something like that. Right?" When he didn't respond after a few steps, she focused her gaze on the path ahead of them, thinking over something. Making her decision, she nodded to herself. "My name was Katherine. I didn't like the nickname Kat because my friends would make cat sounds, so I told people to call me Kitsune since I was into Japanese culture at the time."

She paused, waiting expectantly for the inevitable question, and was not disappointed. ". . . wait. If you didn't like Kat, then why . . . ?"

"No one knows what a "cat" is here," she explained matter-of-factly, "because instead they have meowth and skitty. And besides, the peop–_pokemon_ here are nicer than the kids at home. I don't think they'd tease me over something like that . . ." _Other than you,_ she mentally added, remembering the talk they had at the foot of Mt. Freeze about her "mean streak."_ That should have set off the "he's a human" alarms._

". . . hm." He didn't talk for a while, but she enjoyed the silence all the same, feeling it was better that he was thoughtful instead of remorseful. He surprised her, though, by starting his own conversation, and by doing something totally unexpected. "Gideon."

Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly glanced at him only to find him staring at the starlit sky. "W-what?" _Did he just say . . ._

"My name." He gulped lightly, as if his throat had gone dry at the reminder, and her heart soared at his conceded knowledge as he went on, "My mother chose it. She said it meant "great warrior" in Hebrew."

She smiled, glad he had chosen to share this information with her. "I like it." Immediately feeling uncomfortable after she said it, she turned her head away to look at the bridge that crossed over a small river ahead of them. To get her attention away from her embarrassment, she informed him, "I haven't a clue what mine was supposed to mean. I don't know why she named me that, either; my mother was very confusing when she talked about it." Frowning at the memory of her parents' overlapping voices remembering the day of her birth in separate storylines, she tried to remember the bits and pieces she could grab from the chaos. "I think her grandmother was named Katherine or something . . ."

He snorted. "Keh, makes more sense. "Katherine" means "pure," and you're anything _but_ pure." Her indignant huff caused him to grin, and she hid her delighted smile behind an offended mask as he taunted, "What, you think you and your _sailor mouth_ are "pure?" Kekeh, yeah right!" He had the almost cocky smirk on his face once more, and she couldn't be happier to see it. _I never thought I'd say this, but I actually _missed_ that arrogant grin._

"_Hey!_ I can be pure, dammit!" When he scoffed at her words, she couldn't muffle the giggle completely and ended up bursting into loud laughter after she stumbled over a pebble. Nearly falling over in her joy, she stopped to wipe the happy tears from her eyes and shook her head as if clearing it of all hilarity. "Phew! Actually made me cry, there."

"That's what I'm good at," he mumbled distractedly, and she realized they had arrived at her place and he had fallen back into a dejected mood once more. She silently cursed this setback in her plans, as she had been hoping by the end he'd be a bit happier. _You could say he looks even worse than before._ She desperately looked for something to prolong his visit so she could make him smile again, and they stood awkwardly for a moment or two as she did so. Gengar–or Gideon–scuffed his foot into the dirt path, kicking up a pathetic cloud of dust, before he cleared his throat and turned away. "I should be going . . ."

". . . uh, wait!" She winced at the frantic tone to her voice, but this was her last chance. Once he left, she didn't know when she'd get another chance to see him. When he paused to glance at her over his shoulder, she took a deep breath and plowed into her new plan without hesitation. "Please, won't you come in? For a little bit? My other teammates are all on missions for the next few days, and . . . I'm lonely." Her voice grew quieter with her confession, and she held her breath as she prayed to God he would humor her one more time.

It was obvious by the frown on his face that he didn't want to stay. He might've had a hot meal waiting for him, or had to tell his teammates where he was before they worried. But as he stared at her hopeful face, his expression twisted several times before settling on reluctant consideration, and his claws twitched as no doubt several options revealed themselves to him in his mind. He could leave her standing there and feel guilty about it later, since he really didn't want to stay; he could always make an excuse and try to avoid the guilt, saying he had something important to do; or he could succumb to his guilt and accept her offer, albeit very reluctantly. A heavy sigh signaled he had chosen the last option, and he mumbled halfheartedly as she invited him in with glee, "You'd want to share the company of Team Meanies' leader?"

"No," she told him with a warm smile, "I want to share it with _Gengar._" She knew she had chosen the right name when he gave her a curious glance, and she simply trotted over to grab her satchel with her teeth and bring it over. Dropping it lightly, she nosed through it and grabbed a chesto berry for herself, offering politely (but unfortunately with her mouth full), "Want one?"

She could've sworn he was grinning in amusement at her oxymoron display of manners, but when she blinked it was gone and she figured she had just imagined it. "Nah," he waved a claw dismissively at her, shaking his head. "I'm a ghost, so I don't need to eat. Not berries, anyways." She frowned, remembering the stories of ghosts stealing the life force from helpless mortals and idly wondering how hopeless he considered her. _That would be terrifying._ Remembering her nightmare from a week ago, she couldn't stop the goosebumps from traveling up her spine and causing her to shiver.

Shaking the thought out of her head, she urged, "But you can still enjoy the taste, right?" Seeing she wasn't going to just drop the subject, he scoffed and held his claw out grudgingly for the chesto berry, and when she grinned at his surrender he focused his attention on breaking apart the tough blue shell as if it would protect him from embarrassment. She cracked into her own with a crunch of her fangs, then chewed on the shell for a moment to savor the woody flavor it provided before spitting it out into the trash. Satisfied with her work, she popped a shattered slice of the dry berry into her mouth and turned to look at Gengar, surprised to find him now watching her as he chewed his own. She avoided his gaze for a moment, a bit embarrassed to be under his scrutiny, before she decided that if he was going to stare at her, in her own house, then she was going to stare right back at him. Sticking him with a calm gaze, she tilted her head and asked, "What's your favorite kind of berry?"

He shifted nervously, as if he found her staring as disturbing as she found his, but surprisingly he didn't stop. Instead he answered truthfully, "I like sweet berries, actually. You know, pecha and mago." Eyeing the berry she had torn apart, he ventured, "And you like chesto?"

"Yep!" She nodded, secretly glad he continued the conversation himself. "I also like bluk berries, which are very sweet and kind of dry. I wonder . . ." She trailed off before diving into her backpack once more, and she gave a triumphant shout when she found the berry she was describing. "Here it is!" Pulling it out and offering it to him, she gestured for him to try it and eagerly waited for his verdict.

He chewed thoughtfully, setting aside his chesto berry for a moment as he swallowed and licked his lips. Taking a moment to savor the taste it left in his mouth, he finally answered her unspoken question. ". . . Not bad."

She grinned, glad she could share something of hers with him without hesitation. _It wasn't that hard,_ she realized, but her victory was set aside when she caught sight of his blackened mouth and snickered. At his puzzled frown, she pointed a paw at him and nearly choked in her laughter as she explained, "The berry, it made–your tongue is–" Unable to finish her sentence, she motioned towards her water vase for him to look in it and see for himself, laughing hysterically.

He frowned and did as she suggested, grabbing his tongue between two claws and pulling it out ridiculously far to examine it. While that made her laugh even harder, the tears making a comeback, his eyes widened in surprise as he wondered aloud, "Ugegeh? What the hell happened to my tongue?" Of course, since he held his tongue outside of his mouth, it sounded a lot sillier than he had meant it to be, and there was an audible _thump_ as Kitty fell onto her side and started kicking her legs in the air, shrieking with laughter.

"You look–the berry–your tongue–_ahh, my sides hurt!_"

* * *

><p>The next night found Kitty sneaking around an area she had always known was there but hadn't taken the time to explore–that is, until she saw Gengar going home in that direction. Now she was curious, and ignoring the obvious saying's warning, she crept around the tall grasses in search of his base until she stumbled upon a tiny dirt road hidden in the meadow. Following it rewarded her with a small hut that didn't look as extravagant as she expected it to, but when she snuck a peek into one of the dirty windows she could make out the familiar silhouettes of Team Meanies standing inside. She lost her courage for a moment, suddenly unsure of her decision to find him, but after a moment she pulled herself together and decided things couldn't get any worse. <em>After all, I essentially stalked them by following the smell of Medicham's perfume . . . or does she naturally smell that nice?<em> She'd have to ask the fighter the next chance she had, although she highly doubted she'd get a proper answer. Standing up straight and tall to try to boost her confidence, she used her tail to thump the door and waited for something to happen.

After a few moments where she held her breath, she let it out quietly when she heard the doorknob begin to jiggle and waited patiently for whoever it was to open the door. It turned out to be Ekans (she assumed he had a bit of trouble with the doorknob), and she gave a somewhat shy smile in greeting. The purple snake reared back in surprise, blinking for a good five seconds before finally shaking the unexpectedness of the visit away and hesitantly inviting her, "Come in . . . ?" She thanked him and stepped inside, examining their base carefully as it gave her that haunted house feeling–the floorboards creaking eerily beneath her paws–only to see Medicham standing there.

". . . Er. Is Gengar around . . . ?"

Medicham gave a small "humph" as she crossed her arms haughtily, eyeing her with clear disdain. "And why do _you_ want to see him? How'd you even get here, anyway?"

"Uh, I wanted to talk to him about something . . . kind of important." Taking a deep breath through her nose, she admitted in a quieter voice, "And . . . you smell really nice, actually. It was hard to miss the trail you left."

Medicham seemed taken aback by her honest answer, and their attention was brought to an easily recognized cackle as Gengar stepped from the shadows in the corner of the room. "Kekekekeh, I _told_ you those berry scents were a bad idea. Now you've given away our position!" Smirking in triumph when the fighting-type put her hands on her hips to tell him off, he waved a claw dismissively and turned to Kitty to ignore his teammate's onslaught of insults. "So, what'd you need, shorty?"

It was strange to see him acting normal after weeks without his smirks and taunts, so she had trouble thinking of a proper response to his slight about her height. _I know I'm short, but come on!_ Shaking her head and sighing, she let it slide as he grinned mischievously at her, ready to start an argument. "Uh, well, I just wanted to warn you that . . . there are several pokemon in town, and some of my own teammates, who still aren't too happy about your, uh, lies."

He waved off her concern with a claw, sniggering, "Kekekeh, that's not news to me."

The umbreon sighed. _He's being overly difficult._ "Well, _this_ might not be news to you, then: While I was walking around town tonight, just before they went home, Lombre and Granbull were having a conversation about you." Pausing to see if he recognized anything, she continued when he didn't respond to the information. "They were talking about running you out of town."

His grin never faltered, but Kitty noticed his eyes darken with some mysterious insight before he commanded his teammates to leave the base for a bit. Their protests were ignored, and they promptly exited with reluctant grumbles and a slam of the door (for Medicham). After some time had passed in silence, Gengar turned and walked over to a desk with a small stack of letters–more evidence that word was getting around about their previous exploits. Picking one up and examining it, he read aloud, " "Since you guys can only seem to cause harm to others, I need you to be my buddy's bodyguard and beat up anyone that gets near." " He tossed that one down and grabbed another. " "You guys know what criminals think, right? Go after a thief that's been stealing from kecleon shops all over." " Several others were very similar, and one even outright told him to "get the hell out" and that "nobody appreciates scum on the street." Throwing them down roughly, he turned back to the umbreon with a strained smile, his eyes harsh. "That's not news, Kitty. It never has been news."

She lowered her ears submissively, realizing belatedly that his entire act of normality had been strained. He'd been disliked by the others since they realized he had lied to them about who the cursed human was–and they didn't even know it was really _him._ _Just imagine how intense their hatred would become._ Her heart ached at the thought, because he had done many kind things for her and yet was still shunned from the others. _What would it take to convince them?_ She felt guilty that in the past _she_ had joined them in rejecting him, and it must've shown on her face because his smirk suddenly dropped into an apologetic frown. "Ugegeh . . . I–I didn't mean to talk to you like that. It's just . . ." He ran a claw through his spikes as if they were bangs and sighed heavily. "It's not anything new."

"I know," she mumbled, "I should have realized that. I just . . . you'd think they'd forget about something like that eventually. It's been a long time, and more important things have come and gone . . ."

"More important than slander towards the savior of the world?" Her frown deepened at the reminder, and he shook his head. "People–_pokemon _don't take kindly to being led astray by others around here. Some got hurt chasing after you." He shrugged and returned to the desk, rearranging the letters into a neat pile once more as if to keep busy. "They've threatened to kick me out before; I highly doubt they'll act on it now."

"But what if they do?" She didn't know why she was so frightened by the idea, but it nearly made her heart stop. "What if they try to force you out of town? Where will you go?"

"Kekeh, I'll worry about that when the time comes." He patted the finished pile once in reassurance before turning back around, but he froze at the worried expression on her face as if not expecting her to care so much. His smile slid back into a frown, and he hesitated before asking, "What would _you_ do, if they did?"

Kitty stared at him for a few seconds, examining his gaze for something hinting to what he was looking for, and then her eyes fell to her feet. _What _would_ I do?_ She knew she didn't want that to happen, after being the victim of exile herself, but she had no clue what would stop the others from going through with it. _Nobody stopped it then, either._ Her eyes widened as it suddenly hit her. _That's it! Nobody tried to stop it! Sakura's word wasn't enough then–but maybe, maybe my word would be enough now!_ She looked back up at him, chin held high, and told him, "I'd stop them."

He looked taken aback by her answer, and he sputtered, "What? Geh, how do you figure to do _that,_ shorty?"

"Sakura stood by me back then," she explained, "but her word wasn't enough, back when we were just Normal or Bronze rank, or whatever rank we were at the time." Raising her paw to lift the now platinum badge to clarify, she continued, "After all the things we've been through, I think now my word just might be enough to stop them."

He huffed, clearly not for the idea. "Well, you certainly have a great deal of influence, gegeh . . . but I don't think your partner would be too pleased with that."

"Forget her." His eyes widened in shock. "Yes, I just said that. She'd sit on me if she heard that, but you know what? I don't care. If she's gonna do what the others did when I was a fugitive, so be it. I _won't_ let them run you out, though." She gulped to try to relieve the lump in her throat, but it didn't seem willing to leave its place. If she didn't know any better, she'd think she was blinking so much because her eyes were getting misty.

". . . Keh, don't get all emotional about it!" Gengar's mischievous demeanor suddenly resurfaced and took a hold of the conversation, although his tone was a bit softer than before. "Don't do it as "repayment" or something, kekekeh, because we're already even!"

His words reminded her of something, and the knowing grin that appeared on her face made him falter for a moment. She told him, voice almost sing-song, "Actually, I was told rather recently about something _else_ nice you did." At his confused expression, she waved a paw in a "naughty, naughty" gesture, teasing, "If you're not careful, people might actually think you're a nice guy or something!"

"Ugegeh? What're you talking about?"

She looked innocently to the ceiling, humming, "Mm, oh, I don't know . . . something about a particular gem that safely transported me and Sakura to the clouds." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, pleased at his caught-red-handed expression. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about _that,_ would you?"

He floundered for words for a while before stuttering, "U-uh . . . no?" He looked rather embarrassed to have been found out, and she giggled at his misfortune before walking forward and bumping him playfully with her shoulder.

"It's okay, I won't tell everyone that you're a _big softie._"

* * *

><p><em>Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),<br>~DL ("Dragon Lover")_


	3. Chapter 3

She didn't walk around in the daytime that often, but she occasionally woke up before sunset and wandered the square in hopes of finding someone to chat with. This time, though, she heard something interesting and had to investigate. Her ears perked up at the sound of her name, and she snuck around a building and hid behind a crate to see a few of Pokemon Square's residents chatting amiably. Granbull had his arms crossed and face turned away from the group, but a curious blush that painting his muzzle showed he didn't appreciate the current topic. After a couple of seconds listening to them, she was . . . still thoroughly confused.

"Oh, come on, Granbull!" Shiftry shoved him playfully, grinning when the canine simply huffed and turned his back to them. "Can't you take a joke? You're not the _only_ one who thinks so."

"I don't care."

"Oh, darling, don't be embarrassed!" A red tentacle wrapped around Granbull's shoulder as Octillery of Team Constrictor twittered lightheartedly, causing the dog to grimace at the suction cups now plastered to his arm. "You can admit that you find someone cute, sugar! It's not a crime."

"Although I wouldn't recommend saying it to her face," Lombre chuckled, looking as if he remembered a particularly nasty scenario. "Feraligatr can be a bit . . . hostile."

Kitty's eyes widened in surprise, nearly choking on air. _Granbull likes Feraligatr? Wow. No wonder he's nervous about people knowing. If I liked someone as easily angered as her . . ._ _I'd be afraid to even look at him, let alone tell him so!_ She shivered at the thought. Deciding not to sneak around anymore, she backtracked a bit before walking calmly over to them, giving clear warning as she kicked a pebble across the road. She saw Granbull duck his head, as if expecting Feraligatr to be rampaging towards him, but Shiftry's energetic welcoming told him it was just the umbreon of town and let him relax his tense shoulders. "Hey, guys! What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, hun!" Octillery lifted the tentacle off of Granbull's shoulder–the suction let go with a disturbing _pop!_–and placed it across Kitty's back with a _squelch_. The fox hid her grimace to be polite. "We're just talking about adorable things–like you!"

She paused at the sudden compliment, glancing at the water-type with confusion. "Uh–what?"

Shiftry grinned and joked, "Yeah, we're talking about those cute little fluffy things that we want to hug _really_ tightly! Lucky for you, umbreon fit that description to a T!" He cackled when Octillery did a demonstration, and he motioned for the others to join in the fun. "Isn't that right, guys?"

"Oh, yeah." Lombre rolled his eyes. "We just can't resist huggable things."

"Wha–"huggable?" " _What's going on again? And isn't Feraligatr the exact _opposite_ of small and fuzzy?_ That might've been the point, though; they were either teasing him or hiding his secret, or both. _You gotta love them . . . and their quirkiness._

"Well, she _is_ short," was Granbull's reply, and everyone snickered as she gave an indignant huff. "What? It's true!" He held up a paw more than a foot shorter than him in example–her height. "See? In fact, the only one shorter than _you_ here is Octillery!"

As everyone laughed at the girls' misfortune, the octopus gave her a reassuring pat on the back–_pop, squelch, pop_–and tried to console her. "Look on the bright side, darling; you don't have to worry about being taller than your boyfriend!"

Shiftry snorted. "Unless it's Gulpin." That comment set everyone off again, and they roared even louder when Kitty gave a frustrated growl and separated from Octillery with another _pop,_ stomping down the road to release her anger on something else. Walking north to Whiscash Pond, she reflected on how even the fish was bigger than her. _Then again, he's bigger than normal whiscash._ Still, she was furious as she stomped up to the sleeping fish's home, shouting so he could hear her from underneath the water as her tail whipped about in fury.

"Whiscash! I need to talk to you!"

A few bubbles appeared before the blue fish surfaced, and he blinked in surprise at the livid umbreon before him. "Kitty? What is it?"

"How the hell are you so big?"

He blinked, clearly not expecting such a question from her as he asked carefully, "Are you calling me fat?"

"No, I'm calling you taller than _me._" She began to pace to expend her wrath in a safer way, but she continued to growl at the thought of being one of the shortest pokemon in town. "I'm so small, I'm only taller than people like Caterpie and Gulpin!"

"It's how you were made. Not born, no," he interrupted her protests calmly, "but how you were _re_born when you came here, and when you evolved. You were _meant_ to be that way."

"Well, what if I don't _want_ to be that way," she grumbled, feeling sour towards everyone and everything taller than her._ There's a lot to hate in this world because of that._

"Then you'll never be happy," he responded wisely. "Now, either you go to sulk somewhere else so I can rest in peace, or accept who you are and stop complaining. After all, you _were_ a lot shorter."

She scowled. "That doesn't help."

"Kekekeh, stop whining, shorty!" The umbreon whipped about in surprise to see Gengar behind her, arms crossed and a grin wide as he–purposefully?–towered over her. _Ooooh, I'm going to kill him._ "The old fish is right; accept who you are and all of that crap, and life'll be a lot easier."

"_Practice what you preach" are the first words that come to mind . . . excluding the swears._ Her scowl deepened at his presence, wondering how long he'd been there before shaking her head and arguing, "But I don't _like_ being short! You always get stuck behind the tall people, you're automatically dubbed "weak" by _everyone,_ and–and–you're _short!_"

Just to irritate her, he sauntered over and placed an elbow on her head, and as she tried to growl threateningly at him he taunted, "At least you can crawl into those teeny-tiny holes and hide away from everyone. Then you can sulk in peace!" He snickered when she jerked away from him.

"I _still_ don't like it. Shiftry and the others kept on calling me "cute" and "small and fluffy" and stuff. Damn stereotypes and their . . ." She grumbled on for a while, her attention drifting away from the world around her as she remembered the conversation in town. _Those jerks. I should shadow ball them _all,_ and _then_ we'll see who calls who "cute!"_ Her plotting was interrupted by a snort, and her head jerked up to glare at Gengar. "I don't like being called "small" and "cute!" "

He rolled his eyes, mumbling, "Well, you _are._" He didn't seem to find his words odd in the slightest, and he raised an eyebrow when her jaw dropped in shock. ". . . What's wrong with you?"

"W-_what?_"

He seemed to take the time to replay the conversation in his mind, for he didn't reply until a sudden flash of realization made his face twist in what looked to be horror. ". . . Geh, "short!" I meant "short!" " He sighed as if he had just dodged a bullet–which he had, as it would've shot his reputation. Flirting with Kitty? No one would believe it. "Psh. As if I'd call _you_ . . . you know."

He suddenly didn't look so comfortable standing in the clearing with them, and Whiscash reestablished his presence there by clearing his throat to catch their attention. "If you'd like to avoid more "short" comments, Kitty, I'd suggest leaving in _that_ direction fast. A group from the square is thundering its way down the path." That caused her to move rather quickly; she dashed out of the clearing with all of her agility, eager to get away from Octillery's suction cups and the awkwardness that had fallen between her and Gengar. _It would've gone away rather quickly with anyone else, but with _him_ . . . it got _worse_._ She mulled over it on her way home, taking the long way to make sure she wouldn't run into anyone else. She felt ridiculous sneaking into her own base through the window, but she figured it was better than taking her chances with getting caught at her front door. Once inside, she plopped onto her hay bed with a huff and went into deep thought.

_It's freaky to even _imagine_ Gengar calling someone cute . . . let alone _me. Remembering their conversation at the foot of Mt. Freeze, she tried to figure out how this impression of the ghost came about. _I could see _Alakazam_ saying that easier than I can imagine _him! Maybe it was just the thought that he would find romantic interest (or not-so-romantic interest) in anyone after conning and deceiving the entire town, or the fact that the very name of his team tended to tell how he dealt with people. _He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to do that even if he _was_ interested._ It was weird to contemplate whether he had Casanova skills up his sleeve, and she snorted at the thought of him being smooth and cool with _any_ girl. _I'd _pay_ to see him try._

_Then again, if you can make smart-alecky comments, you're at least somewhat good with words._ She frowned, trying to imagine him flirting with someone in town. _God, this is so weird. It's like imagining Sakura being okay with traveling at night: I just can't see it!_ She felt that was a bad thing, realizing that if she ever saw him _succeed_ in flirting, or her partner getting over her fears, she would still feel weird about it. Crossing her paws and laying her chin on them, she recognized that she still had many stereotypes and prejudices to overcome, and the thought saddened her. _Even with all of this progress . . . I still have a long way to go._

* * *

><p>"Oh, thank you, thank you!" The ledyba grabbed Kitty's paw with four of her feet and shook it in some twisted version of a handshake. "I don't know what I would've done if I didn't get to see Oddish! Thank you, <em>thank<em> you for answering my letter!"

She had asked to be escorted to the deepest part of Uproar Forest so they could plan a surprise party for another friend of theirs–surely no one they knew would overhear their planning in the middle of this place, right? Their logic baffled the umbreon, but a mission was a mission, and she went through with it intending to escort the insect safely. After the two had wandered off to talk in privacy, Kitty shook her head at their lack of sanity before figuring she might as well continue and walked deeper into the forest.

Memories twirled in the air around her as she strolled absentmindedly through the trees. _I remember beating the mankey gang as an eevee._ She could almost feel the triumph that had swelled within her then at her accomplishment, for Sakura had been afraid she wouldn't be able to handle the type disadvantage. _I certainly showed her a thing or two about determination!_ She giggled, remembering the way the bulbasaur's jaw had dropped in absolute shock. "Ah, those were the days . . . before everything became complicated."

She sighed at the reminder, her mood dampening as the events after that came back to haunt her. "Before I had to run away from home . . . before I had to prove myself . . . before I had to rescue Team A.C.T. underground . . ." She glanced up at the sky hiding behind the leaves, a frown now on her face. "And before I had to go to the tower in the clouds to find Rayquaza." She remembered the resolve she had developed then, knowing she was going to leave after she saved the world but deciding to do the right thing and go on with it. She even thought she might have to die to get it done, and she hadn't flinched away.

_The eevee stared up at the clouds, squinting against the sunlight as she tried to catch sight of the legendary they sought. ". . . Rayquaza's up there. Somewhere." She didn't know what he would look like, but she knew that if he didn't cooperate she'd have to fight him to get him to reconsider. That seemed to be the trend with legendaries, strangely enough. No matter what the cost, though, she had to convince him to help them, for the sake of all who lived on the planet–all of her friends._

"_Yep." Sakura eyed the clouds they stood on warily, as if waiting for them to disperse and let them plummet to their deaths. Shaking away the fear, she turned to her partner and said with forced cheerfulness, "Well, let's get a move on! We've got a world to save!" She walked forward to begin the journey, but Kitty stared at the tower a little longer._

"_I'm sorry, Sakura," she whispered to thin air, her eyes tearing up. "It's what I was brought here to do." Sniffing quietly, she quickly wiped away her tears and chased after her friend, determined to make the best of this. _Let's make this the greatest adventure we've ever had!

Her reminiscing was interrupted by the angry cries of mankey, and she rolled her eyes as a horde of them surrounded her with crazed expressions. "Is that so," she replied sarcastically, ready to fight her way out, and they screeched in reply. "Alright, come and get it!"

One lunged at her screaming defiantly, but she easily kicked it aside and shot a shadow ball to add insult to injury. Baring her fangs, she grabbed and tossed the next one that attacked into another, spitting out the fur that came with it. When one tried to defeat her with fury swipes, she grinned and knocked it out with a single headbutt, barely feeling the pain of the moves. _This is easy! Piece of cake._ She could barely imagine the point in time these sorts of attacks would have thrown her for a loop, and she danced around the attacking mob like a clefairy on joy seeds.

She was so involved in the attacking mankey, in fact, that she didn't realize one had pulled back, an intelligent glint in its eye as its paw began to glow. It bided its time, unlike its brethren, and then suddenly lashed out at her when she came within reach, catching her off guard. The focus punch caught her in the jaw, and she was tossed onto her back by the sheer force of the attack, letting the others have a chance at attacking her. The irony in the situation would've made her laugh, if her head wasn't spinning. With their vicious and relentless assault, she was knocked out in a matter of moments.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Medicham danced into the base whistling a merry tune, and she shouted in a sing-song voice, "We've got <em>maaaiiiil!<em>" Giddy with the thought of gaining money, she tossed the letters excitedly onto the desk, and the ghost-type sitting there began to sort through them as she boogied in place. "Oh, adventuring we go, adventuring we go, high-ho a dairy oh, adventuring we go!"

"Kekekeh, did you get that off the top of your head?" Snickering at his teammate's eagerness, Gengar flipped through the feeble stack of paper they had developed the past couple of days. _Keh, not too bad, I guess. Considering my reputation, this is a whole lot more than I expected._ Flicking the corners of the letters with his claws, he skimmed them briefly as he looked for something interesting. "Geh . . . Ariados, Marowak, Cubone, Sakura, Milotic, Gyara–_ugegeh?_"

"Sakura? That venusaur of Team Foxfire's?" Ekans slithered over curiously as his leader frantically searched for the letter he had passed with the grass-type's request, and as he stared at it the snake glanced at Medicham with concern. She shrugged, showing she also had no clue what was going on as they both awaited orders. Finally, Gengar dropped all of the other letters onto the desk and stood up, snatching his bag hanging on the back of the chair as he fast-walked out of the door with a purpose. They chased after him in alarm, and Ekans shouted, "Wait, where are you going? What's going on?"

Gengar didn't answer, simply rereading the shocking information on the paper. "_I went to check in on Kitty this morning–she's normally sleeping, so I just poke my head in–but I didn't see her at her base. I asked some of the nocturnal teammates of our team, and they all said they had last seen her going to Uproar Forest. It doesn't normally take her all night to accomplish a mission. She made me swear not to abandon this mission no matter what, and I know she'd be furious even if I was trying to help her . . . I know you're a jerk, but please, please find her? I'm really worried._" The words made _him_ start to worry, and Sakura _had _to be serious if she was asking _him_ for help. He scowled as he picked up the pace. "Ugegeh. Of _course,_ she'd end up getting herself into trouble, after getting her teammate to promise to never abandon "the noble cause." "

When he got into town to access his supplies, though, he realized he had to act the part–strange how it was all pretend now–and he paused a moment to let his teammates catch up as he gathered his composure. _No reason to run in looking like someone's dying and like I _care. Putting on a fake mocking smirk, he strolled into town with only a bit of urgency and casually withdrew from storage, ready to neatly avoid any and all questions asked of him with his regular arrogant responses.

"Going on another mission, dear?" Kangaskhan's words were suspicious but understanding, as if she still had her doubts but wouldn't let the past or rumors get in the way of her job. _Good,_ he mentally snorted, and he requested for certain items as he impatiently tapped his foot. He was ready to _go,_ but he wasn't ready for a dungeon and so had to wait until all of his stuff was together. Before he could leave, however, the normal-type got one last comment in. "Good luck," she told him, and although it was a cautious send-off it was well meant. He paused on his way down the path, frowning in thought, before the smirk returned and he gave an indifferent wave over his shoulder, eyes focused ahead of him. He missed the satisfied smile she gave him, and she hummed a lullaby to keep her child asleep as she organized the items behind the counter.

It was only when they were officially on the road–and away from prying eyes–that he informed his teammates of the situation, and he braced himself for the questions he knew were coming. Ekans was silent on the matter, choosing to hold his forked tongue, but Medicham wasn't quite as considerate as she pinned him with a glare. "Why are you so concerned with helping her? From all that I can gather, she's made your life miserable, and this time she messed up on her own. Life sucks, and then you lose a few items." She sounded very critical of the umbreon, and Gengar couldn't help wondering why it sounded like his teammate had a personal vendetta against Kitty.

"To be fair," he countered, "I've messed up her life just as much, so we're basically even."

" "To be fair?" " She balked at his words, asking shrilly, "Since when were we ever "fair?" Is our name just for show now? Did you–did you become _soft?_"

He glared at the fighter in irritation, not liking the tone she was using with him. "I can't believe I have to _ask_ this, but _who's_ the leader? _Who's_ the one who makes the decisions?" As she finally shut her trap and fumed silently, he crossed his arms while they continued down the road and argued, "Besides, with all of the missions they've done, Team Foxfire is _loaded._ Saving the savior of the world equals big cash reward. Big cash reward equals _your_ expensive spending sprees. It's simple algebra. Get it?" The sour look he received showed he had earned her silence, at least, and one glance at Ekans showed he wasn't willing to argue with him anytime soon. Satisfied with the peace that settled between them, however strained, Gengar looked on to the path ahead of them, daring anything else to get in their way. _I've had enough of delays._

An hour of walking served to dissipate most of the tension between them, enough that the snake felt it was safe to speak up. "How far in is she, anyways?"

"Near the end," he muttered with a snort, "because she just _has_ to overdo things."

"She probably finished a mission and felt overconfident," the fighter chirped, rubbing her hands together at the thought of such a disaster. "Probably bit off more than she could chew! Uproar Forest _is_ full of mankey, after all. One probably got a good fighting-type move on her, and then–" She whistled and demonstrated a falling plane, emphasizing the crash with a silly sound-effect. "–she's out cold!"

"Nice to see you're looking on the bright side of things," Gengar commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her love of tragedies. _I'd bet she would've _loved_ Shakespeare._ "Kekeh, are you going start singing about her failure as soon as we find her?"

"Of course!" Things were a lot smoother between them at the subject of Kitty's misfortune in a different light, and the ghost-type figured this would be the only way he could talk about her with Medicham. "It wouldn't be a proper mission otherwise!" She started to think of a ditty early, humming different tunes with a bounce in her step he could almost admire. It was this unorthodox attraction to mischief and mayhem that had caused him to recruit her, and it was now the reason he sometimes had trouble becoming a better person. _She doesn't seem eager to try changing anytime soon._ If anyone thought that _he_ would take a long time, she was just a lost cause.

_Ekans, on the other hand, would change at the drop of a hat._ Turning his gaze to the silent serpent, he examined the yellow eyes that focused on their surroundings, alert for any sudden changes in the situation. He was an opportunistic pokemon, looking for the easiest way out of situations that would be less likely to have detrimental effects on him later. _He'd be "good" in a heartbeat if it meant he stayed out of trouble, and that might be worse than someone who actually likes being bad. He'd be a perfect double-agent, if you could trust him to stay on your side._ Sometimes he had his doubts, but Gengar was sure the snake was on his side, for now. _He's loyal, to an extent. He's never bailed on me before I bailed on him, at least._ The leader was sure he knew where his teammates' loyalties began and ended, and so he trusted them to a certain point–enough that they were his right-hand men, anyways. They, normally, followed him without a complaint.

_Unless I try to do something good,_ he thought sourly, remembering how he had to sneak out of the base to assist in making the Teleport Gem. _They're great at causing mischief, but when it comes to being _decent,_ they get all out of sorts. No matter that it might soften people's criticism or make them lower their guards–we're "above being good."_ Scowling at the thought, he decided he needed to at least teach them both some manners. _That way they won't be completely helpless when I . . ._

"Gengar?" He snapped out of his daydreaming and glanced at Ekans' curious gaze. The purple snake pointed with his tail to the wooden sign designating the entrance to the dungeon. Nodding in acknowledgment, a confident smirk widened at the prospect of helping the one pokemon he had never expected to need any. _Oh, the sweet irony. She'll be mortified._ He conjured the image of her horrified expression, snickering at her slack jaw before shaking it away and proceeding to search for the real thing, to savor it.

* * *

><p>"Kekekeh. Get <em>up,<em> brat."

Kitty groaned and squinted at the sunlight that forced its way into them as soon as they were open, feeling an impending headache just on the fringes of her consciousness. Her surroundings were mostly brown and green blurs, but a single torch of orange and red sliced through the darkness of the forest, hurting her poor eyes as she scrunched them shut to escape the pain. Unfortunately she didn't have the luxury of sleep anymore, for something grabbed her and pulled her roughly to her feet ignoring her feeble whines. "Ngh, but I want to sleep . . . ugh. Headache."

She had a distinct feeling of déjà vu when faint mumbling was followed by something assaulting her sides, and her eyes shot open as she squealed and squirmed in her aggressor's arms as the ghost-type watched on with a grin. She was then dropped as Medicham began to laugh hysterically, obviously amused by the umbreon's reaction as her teammates hid their mischievous smirks. Shaking the remnants of exhaustion from her body and giving a mighty yawn, Kitty finally turned to face the three of them with an aggravated glare, snapping, "What the _hell_ was that for? I was–"

"Sleeping on the forest floor," Ekans interrupted, and she paused in her rant to examine the trees around her.

_. . . Oh. That's right, I was . . ._ Furrowing her eyebrows as she tried to piece together her last waking moments, she was foiled by the serpent as he went on to explain the situation for her, much to her frustration. "You must've gotten pummeled by a mankey or two after you finished your mission, and then–_psh,_ you were out." Giving his leader a glance, he added a bit softer, "The venusaur was worried."

It took several moments of her jaw working up and down without issuing forth the words she wished for, and then it all suddenly came back to her like the snap of a rubber band: The ledyba, the oddish, and all of the mankey returned to her memory in startling clarity. Her eyes widened when she put two-and-two together, but she couldn't help the tentative question she offered Team Meanies as they looked on in delight. "You . . . came to rescue me?" It sounded ludicrous even to her own ears, but she watched as they nodded mischievously, letting her absorb all of the information they had given her until, finally, her jaw dropped open to express her mortification. "Oh . . . God."

"Kekeh, you bet!" Gengar thoroughly enjoyed her embarrassment, prodding her with an impish smirk, "We expect a _handsome_ reward for bringing you in!" Snickering with his teammates when she covered her head with her paws and moaned, he then motioned for her to follow them as they turned to go back the way they came. He whispered to Medicham, loud enough for the black fox to hear, "Y'know, I _still_ can't believe the savior of _everything_ got into trouble in _Uproar Forest . . ._"

"H-hey!" She sprinted after them with a scowl, shouting, "How about _you_ guys go to a dungeon where everything's nearly fatal to you, and _then_ you try laughing!" Narrowing her eyes when they simply laughed at her challenge, she gave a huff and pushed ahead of them, holding her head high as she tried to piece together her shattered dignity. _I swear, if they hadn't gone to the trouble of finding me, I would've _so_ kicked their asses by now._ Grumbling under her breath like she always did when angered, she scowled when Gengar made another comment about her habit of talking to herself.

"Kekekeh, is _that_ how you convinced Rayquaza to help you? You threatened to talk his ear off?"

"I don't think he _has_ ears," was Ekans' contemplative remark, and they went off on a tangent debating whether or not there were hidden ears on the guardian of the Sky Tower. The snake was questioned about his lack of knowledge on the subject, but he simply replied, "I'm a _snake,_ not a dragon. There's a difference."

"But they're similar, aren't they? And don't you at least have a basic idea of how all scaly pokemon are structured?"

"Medicham, do you know much about Lucario?"

She snorted at the mention of the legendary rescuer. "No."

He hummed in thought at her abrupt response. "He's a fighting-type, isn't he?"

"Well, yeah, but–he's got a lot of fur and spikes and . . . stuff! It's different!"

The snake nodded, satisfied by her answer. "Exactly." He seemed to enjoy the frustrated groan he received from his teammate, and then his gaze wandered to Kitty trotting silently in front of them. He "picked up his pace" until he was slithering beside her, and when she glanced at him with poorly hidden surprise he matched her gaze coolly, his own hint of curiosity making his eyes sparkle. "Kitsune–Kitty?" At her affirmation, he continued, "Kitty, do _you_ know whether Rayquaza had ears or not?" He seemed to be eager for her answer, as if to make an example out of it for his teammate.

Kitty frowned at the bizarre question, trying to gather what little memory she had of the fight with the gigantic serpent above the clouds. "Well . . . I didn't see anything like _my_ ears, but . . . I don't know if that means he _doesn't_ have ears." Pulling up everything she knew about reptiles, she ventured slowly, "I remember something from my science class about hidden ears–like underneath a flap of skin, or some faint indent on both sides of the head or something. That might've been what he had."

Ekans gave another curious hum. "Interesting." Eyes flickering behind them at his teammates, he went on, "So, you're saying that you're not positive on the matter?"

"Er, yeah." She frowned at his triumphant hiss, asking suspiciously, "Are you just looking for something so you can win this argument?" When he nodded shamelessly with a cheeky snake grin, she rolled her eyes, muttering, "Geez, you guys are worse than children with sibling rivalry . . ."

Gengar unexpectedly strode over to walk on her other side, startling her when he pointed out, "Keh, _you_ sound familiar with that subject. Has the poor kitty had to deal with little kids in the past?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You mean, other than you? Yeah, I have. There were these two rattata, and both wanted desperately to be on my team. They thought up the most complicated pranks to pull on each other, and yet they almost always backfired and got either me or Sakura." She recounted a particular mishap where one had dug a pit to trap the other one while he impressed Team Foxfire, but then Kitty had accidentally stepped on the tarp hiding the hole and yelped in surprise as she was suddenly plunged into darkness.

"What_ the–"_

Fwump!

"_Kitty? Kitty!" Sakura's desperate calls filtered in with the sunlight from above, and when the umbreon began to cough from all of the dust that had been stirred from her landing her teammate tried to keep her calm. "Hold on, grab my vine!"_

_As she waited for her eyesight to adjust to the dark, she noticed a strange echoing sound coming from her right and decided to investigate. She turned her head and squinted, trying to discern what was there, before the sudden _thump_ of Sakura's vine smacking against the wall of the pit startled her–and a flock of zubat. Apparently, the hole was connected to an underground cave where the bats slept during the day, and they didn't take too kindly to being disturbed as they shot out of the opening to screech warnings at her._

"_Ah! Bats! _Zu_bats!" Trying to fend them off with poorly aimed shadow balls, she finally leapt for the vine that had awoken them and screamed for the venusaur to pull her up. "Jesus Christ, Sakura–up, _up!_" She was nearly flung from the hole as the flock followed her out, and she ducked underneath one of her teammate's leaves as the angered bats flew around in confusion at her sudden disappearance. When they finally dispersed to find shelter from the unforgiving sun, she gave a shudder and crept out from her hiding place, whispering, "Are they all gone?"_

"_All but one," her friend mumbled, poking a zubat that had for some reason collapsed on the ground. Kitty cocked her head in curiosity and, despite her better judgment, hopped from her perch to examine it up close. He was panting raggedly, and a scrape on the membrane of his wing hinted to him being one of the unlucky ones to get hit by a stray shadow ball. Feeling slightly guilty as she watched her struggle to get up, she gestured for Sakura to pick the zubat up with a vine and drape her in a leaf's shade to avoid getting sunburned._

"_Leave it to you to feel sorry for hurting someone that was attacking you," Sakura teased, and she received a light smack from Kitty's tail as they continued on, both planning to strangle the rattata brothers when they returned home._

"That's actually how we got Zubat on our team," she added after her narration was done, "so I guess _something_ good came from it."

Gengar grinned at her optimistic statement, as if finding it ironic compared to her previous brooding. "Silver lining, huh? Kekeh, you're full of that, aren't you?"

She scowled at his taunting, and she said matter-of-factly, "Actually, _no,_ I'm _not,_ thank you very much. I'm just choosing to make light of the situation to make myself feel better about my pain." Turning her head away from him, she decided to never be nice to him ever again so he wouldn't get the idea that she enjoyed his heckling. _Because I don't. I might not like his moping, but _this_ isn't worth it._ She sighed at the thought of walking into town knowing everyone would know about her screw up, and her ears drooped as she glared at the dirt path passing beneath her paws. "Stupid mankey. Next time, I'm chucking chestnuts at them. _Without_ peeling them." She yawned, feeling exhausted even after sleeping the night away. "Great. Now my sleeping schedule's messed up."

"Kekeh, you're doing it again."

She finally snapped, being far too tired to care about manners anymore, and she spun on her heels (an impressive feat, being a quadruped) to face him with an irritated growl. "You know what? I don't care. I already _know_ I'm crazy, okay? I don't need to be reminded! After all, what _sane_ person would go up against Groudon after Team A.C.T. went missing? Or go to the clouds to wrestle with Rayquaza until he finally shot down that goddamn "falling star?" " She was mildly satisfied by Team Meanies' stunned expressions, and she scoffed before facing the road again, grumbling, "And who in their right mind would _ever_ try to look for good in everyone?" She mentally berated herself for ever deciding to change her views of the world, wishing she could return to the pessimistic outlook she had the few weeks she had been a hermit. _Too bad I have a conscience._

* * *

><p>"Thank you for taking this quest, sir." The ariados gave a weary sigh, glancing at the canyon walls with familiarity as if he had been there many times before. "I'm afraid my daughter's run off again, despite my warnings."<p>

"Kekeh, don't worry," Gengar smirked, ready for an easy mission to relax without his teammates' squabbling. "I'll find her in a heartbeat!" He took the lead confidently through Great Canyon's rocky trails, picking the easiest paths so the arachnid could keep up with relative ease as they both kept an eye out for Heracross. _The brat sounds like she enjoys causing her parents grief,_ he speculated, giving a soft snort at the image of a heracross laughing maniacally as she tossed rocks down the canyon. _I'd leave her alone for a few hours so she'd learn a lesson._

His current assignment reminded him of the rescue mission he had to accomplish a few days earlier, and his grin widened as he remembered the horrified look on Kitty's face after she woke up. _Ah, makes me wish this world had cameras._ When he had insisted on bringing her straight to her partner, she had fumed silently as she led them out to the meadow where the venusaur nearly crushed her in an attempt to give her a hug. _Gives "bone-crushing hug" a whole new meaning,_ he snickered mentally, going on to remember the way him and his teammates had roared with laughter as Sakura interrogated the leader of Team Foxfire before forcing her to promise not to go out on another mission alone. He had earned himself a shadow ball to the face when he offered to be the one to go with her, and all-in-all, he hadn't regretted picking up that letter.

_Then again, a chance to bother her and find possible blackmail is _always_ worth it._ He was going to make sure she never forgot about this day until she found some way to keep him quiet, and even then the residents of Pokemon Square probably wouldn't let her live it down, either. _"You had to have Team _Meanies_ rescue you? How hard _did_ that mankey hit you?"_

"Ah, sir," Ariados interrupted his bodyguard's train of thought, "I don't mean to pry, but . . . you look awfully cheerful. Good day?"

Gengar wasn't bothered by his question, too delighted by the past week's events to care about nosy escorts. "You have _no_ idea, kekeh." He smirked, figuring he might as well start spreading the news of her failure now. "A few days ago, I had the pleasure of rescuing _the_ savior of the world. You know–short, umbreon, has a problem with being called short?"

". . . Ah, yes, you mean Kitty." The spider clicked his mandibles together in a sign of approval. "I remember that girl. She's very considerate, that one."

The ghost eyed him with interest, and he ventured slowly, "You . . . know her personally?" _Oh, this just keeps getting better and _better_._

He gave a soft hum, as if finding the question amusing. "No, not in particular . . . she helped me find my daughter before, in this very canyon." His eyes glazed over as he reminisced, and he absentmindedly scurried over a small boulder as Gengar simply passed through it. "She also pushed me out of the way of a rock tumbling from the ridge above–she sensed it before I felt the vibrations. She's remarkable, that's for sure; strong, alert, and as loyal as a growlithe."

"And as stubborn as a tauros," Gengar snorted, rolling his eyes at his companion's praises. "She simply refuses to admit that she's wrong until she gets herself into major trouble."

Ariados glanced at him and disagreed immediately. "She seemed rather humble when I talked to her last. She realized she had done wrong and wanted to make up for it, it sounded like." He laughed at the ghost's curious gaze, and he darted ahead just as a sandshrew tried to claw him in the face. Gengar took the offender out quickly and made an effort to pick up the conversation where it had been interrupted, but the spider instead said, "Let me ask you a question, Gengar: Do you consider yourself a friend of hers? I can't continue this heart-to-heart unless I know."

He opened his mouth to immediately answer with a casual "sure," but then he hesitated as he truly thought about it. Was he a friend? Or did they simply tolerate each other? Did it really matter in the long run? _Would he be able to tell if I was lying?_ Mulling over the past events that had thrown them together, he stared at his feet and muttered truthfully, "I'm . . . not sure." He didn't know why he was suddenly bothered by this, or why he now wanted to know the answer to the spider's question. It was like an injury he wasn't aware of until it was pointed out, because it was only after he knew about it that it started to sting.

He was surprised by Ariados' chuckling and the satisfied twinkle in his eye, and he was furthered confused when the spider turned to look ahead of them and decided to divulge the information he had sworn to protect. "She was so quiet while walking with me that I was afraid she was bored of me, but after I politely inquired I saw she was fretting over something important. You see, she had had something like a "fight" with a friend of hers many, many weeks ago, and she was worrying that he felt he was to blame." Pausing for a moment as if replaying the conversation in his head, he added from his own intuition, "Evidently, although she didn't admit it, she felt a bit of the blame herself.

"So, I advised her to tell him that the past was the past and should _remain_ behind him, and I was pleased to see that the words didn't surprise her." The father chuckled, pointing out ironically, "I even think that _he_ was the one to have told her that! How comical that the advisor has to listen to the echoes of what he preaches." He gave the ghost beside him a knowing glance, letting his words sink in as they walked on for a while in silence. After a few more scuffles with crazed pokemon looking to defend their territory, he finally picked back up on the thread of conversation. "I do hope that she reconciled with her friend. It sounded like she really cared about him."

". . . right." He felt uncomfortable, walking beside a pokemon that seemed to know so much about him without actually knowing it was _him_–unless those glances that he kept giving the ghost were for something other than curiosity–and he cleared his throat to try to shove the tension from his gut and out of his life. _This was supposed to be a _relaxing_ mission, dammit!_ "Well, that's different. _Normally,_ she's very stubborn."

"I see," was Ariados' humorous reply, and he inquired lightly, "Does she normally argue with you? I would think that she wouldn't spend any time, shouting or not, with someone she despised. And you're uncertain that she's your friend?"

He scowled, feeling the need to defend himself. "Geh, it doesn't matter, anyways. She has plenty of _other_ people to hang out with." His frown deepened when he realized how jealous he sounded. _I _really_ don't like this ariados. Where's that little brat?_ Trying to cover up his mistake, he abruptly changed the subject. "So, you and your wife–mate–whatever, you two lose your daughter how often?"

Ariados smiled but didn't comment on his guardian's anxiety. "It seems she loves to sneak off at the worst of times: Before dinner, after naptime, and whenever I take the time to blink. She's very fond of finding new friends, and this place seems to be her favorite to scout out for playmates."

He then launched into a story of the several pokemon his daughter had tried to drag home kicking and screaming, spinning a tale much like he would spin a web as his story relieved the tension in Gengar's ghostly body. Before long, laughter rang throughout the canyon at the description of a poor sandshrew that hadn't a chance to dig away from the heracross, and the resentment he felt towards Ariados lessened a bit. _He tells good stories, anyways._ He let himself forget about their previous conversation, instead enjoying the misfortune of the insect couple trying to keep their daughter on a metaphorical leash when, in Gengar's opinion, they needed to acquire a very real one shortly. _And I'll be saying that the next time I have to help him look for her, too._

* * *

><p>"Heehee, is that so?"<p>

"_Kitty!_" The venusaur thumped her vines into the colorful flowers around her in a ridiculous temper tantrum, and she scowled when her friend simply continued to laugh at her as they sat in the grassy meadow, under the dwindling light of dusk. "It's not funny! I'm being serious, here!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." She rubbed the tears of mirth from her eyes and cleared her throat, trying to regain the calm she had had before she started to tease Sakura. "Okay, so, you're saying that the charizard you've been trying to find a friend for . . . you've come to like him?"

"Y-yeah." The grass-type looked bashful after confessing, and she eyed the swaying blades of grass beneath her as she sighed wistfully. "He's very shy, but he's got a big heart. He doesn't mind being compared to Charizard from Team A.C.T., although he had to don a nickname–Har–to prevent confusion. And he looks past what others see and finds all of the _good_ qualities in pokemon." It was a tender subject to touch upon, as ever since she had evolved Sakura had self-esteem problems with her looks; going from tiny and cute to huge and intimidating could do that to anyone. This obviously played a big role in her crush. ". . . I really, _really_ like him."

"I see. Well," Kitty spoke casually as she used her hind leg to defeat an itch behind an ear, "he seems like a nice guy. What's stopping you?"

"I . . ." She huffed. "Okay, I'm a _big_ coward. Emphasis on the "big" part."

"Oh, come on, don't start _that_ again–"

"I know, he's around the same size and whatnot." She rolled her eyes at the umbreon's irritation. "I'm trying not to bash myself too much, okay? It's just . . . hard."

Kitty sighed, remembering the weeks she had spent simply sulking in her base. _Don't I know it._ "Okay, we just need to work on your confidence. How about . . . just think of the way you stood up to Rayquaza in the sky. You were very brave then!"

"To be honest," Sakura grumbled, "I wasn't _nearly_ as scared then as I am _now._"

"Now, that's just silly. If he's such a nice guy, you don't have much to worry about. After all," she nudged the grass-type with her shoulder, grinning, "you're the kindest person I know! He can't _not_ like you!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, mumbling, "Oh gee, thanks. If you say so, it _must_ be true!"

"Seriously, don't worry about it." Kitty gave her an encouraging smile, trying to convey the confidence she had in her partner. "It'll feel better to get off of your chest, anyways. He sounds like he'd understand whether he likes you back or not." Her tail curled around her paws as she continued to reassure Sakura, and eventually they fell into a companionable silence as they enjoyed each other's company. They rarely had the chance to do this anymore, considering they were always busy with missions, so both of them were glad to finally get to see each other and simply talk about things they would never share with anybody else. It reminded Kitty of the unbreakable bond they shared after all of the hardships they struggled through, and it made her think that the venusaur would back up any decision she made, no matter what. _Maybe even protecting Gengar, if I can convince her I'm not insane._

She was startled from her contemplating when her friend gave a small hum, and she looked over curiously at the venusaur staring towards the horizon, eyes unfocused in thought. "What is it, Sakura?"

"You know, I think Gengar's . . . changed."

* * *

><p><em>Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),<br>~DL ("Dragon Lover")_


	4. Chapter 4

" "Changed?" " Kitty repeated, a confused frown on her face. "What makes you say that?"

"Well," Sakura began, slowly lowering herself to rest her belly on the ground, "back at Mt. Freeze with Ninetales, he actually looked guilty, after you ran off. He looked as if he was genuinely sorry for what he did, if only for a moment. Then he sucked it all up and tried to pretend he didn't care, but it was obviously just an act." Pausing for a moment to think, she continued, "And _then,_ after I desperately sent that letter because I was so worried about you, I hadn't really expected him to go find you. Not only did he do _that,_ though, but he actually brought you over to _me_ so I could see you were alright." When the umbreon didn't respond, she shrugged. "He could've easily just left you at the base, claiming his money as soon as he got you there."

". . . true." After contemplating the events of the past few weeks, she admitted, "He _has_ changed, I guess. He's a bit less malicious, I think, and he actually seems to think about what he's going to say. He doesn't just blindly insult people anymore. It's . . . kind of weird, actually."

"Maybe he's learned his lesson?" Kitty shrugged, and then an idea suddenly struck the green-skinned pokemon, making her grin and unsettle her friend. "Ooh, or maybe he's found someone to impress?"

Kitty raised an eyebrow, clearly not getting it. "Medicham? I don't think he's interested . . ."

Sakura snorted. "Oh, come on, Kitty, you can't be that dense."

The umbreon frowned, taking a moment to digest the information, and then the light bulb lit up overhead as she reared back in shock. "Wait, _what?_ You _can't_ be serious. No, that's ridiculous." She scowled at her partner's sniggers, and she ranted on, "Trying to impress _me?_ What the hell would _that_ accomplish?"

"Oh, I don't know." Sakura nudged her with a vine, smirking mischievously at her friend's discomfort. "Maybe he's hoping that his "charm" will woo you or something."

"_Ew! Sakura!_" Kitty headbutted her friend when she began to laugh, and when the venusaur didn't stop she groaned and shouted, "Come on, that's _not_ funny. Seriously! That's just . . . just . . . no!" It was troubling to think about, and so she tried not to as she focused on punishing her partner. "Just–just shut up! Stop laughing!"

"Alright, fine." Sakura finally calmed down to talk seriously with her best friend, asking, "But, haven't you noticed how differently he's been acting? It's almost as if he _wants_ you to like him–or he's afraid that you _won't._" And, to be honest, her words had some merit; even Kitty had noticed the way Gengar would soften his words to avoid hurting her, only teasing her when he felt it wasn't too serious or when it'd look odd in front of others otherwise. The umbreon just didn't think it was something as serious as _liking_ her, though. _Maybe he just wants to be friends?_

"Sakura, you _may_ have a good point–" She glared at her friend's triumphant grin. "–but I highly doubt that he'd suddenly turn around and try to "woo" me or something. I mean, come on, this is _Gengar,_ the leader of Team _Meanies_, we're talking about. Do you think he'd switch tracks so easily?"

"No, but maybe he didn't." At Kitty's confused look, Sakura ventured, "Do you remember what happened after Rayquaza destroyed the falling star? How he dragged your spirit back to your body, despite how he always tried to ruin our lives before? Why do you think he'd do that if he didn't at least have some sort of respect for you? And _don't_ say that because he did the same for me it doesn't count, because you _know_ that's a lie."

". . . okay, _maybe_ he respects me."

Sakura groaned in agitation. "You're being stubborn, Kitty. Look, Gengar isn't the kind of guy that is nice just for the hell of it. He has to have a reason, you know? Either he wanted money–illogical–he pitied you–yeah, right–or he liked you, in at _least_ a respect kind of way. Now, you tell me which is more likely." She sat back and watched the wheels turn in her friend's head, looking rather smug that she had figured it all out. When she still didn't look convinced, the venusaur added, "Have you seen anything _else_ that seemed odd with the mean ol' ghost we knew before?"

Kitty frowned, closing her eyes as she tried to recall all of the times she had felt he was acting strange.

"_I . . . came here to . . . ask for help."_

"_How long did it take you to figure out how to do that?"_

"_Geh, I _would_ have told you. I tried, remember?"_

"_You're not at all angry that I lied to the others and caused them to chase you around the country? Not at all?"_

"_You should stop blaming yourself for everything. You can save the world, but you can't save _everyone_."_

"_My mother chose it. She said it meant "great warrior" in Hebrew."_

"_Ugegeh . . . I–I didn't mean to talk to you like that. It's just . . . it's not anything new."_

"_. . . Geh, "short!" I meant "short!" Psh. As if I'd call _you_ . . . you know."_

When she opened her eyes, she found Sakura waiting eagerly for a response, and after hesitating for a few moments she admitted slowly, "Well . . . yeah . . . but, I don't think . . ."

The venusaur rolled her eyes at Kitty. "Sit in denial all you want, girl, but he definitely wants _something_ from you. Either friendship, forgiveness, acceptance, or just _you._"

* * *

><p>Kitty was plagued for days by the questions her partner had brought up with their discussion. Did he want her friendship? Her forgiveness? Her approval? <em>Her?<em> Or were they simply looking too deep into things, and he was just becoming a better person without any ulterior motives? It became difficult to sleep and she found herself staring at the ceiling as the sunlight peeked in when dawn finally came and went. It would be hours before exhaustion would take her, and then dreams she could never remember would wake her up again and she'd be even more tired than before. In a week, she resembled the walking dead, and she finally decided to take a holiday, passing on the missions to other members of the team as she opted to stay in bed and try to catch more sleep. Finally catching up with her exhaustion, she slept a full twenty-four hours before waking up again, feeling a bit better than before. As soon as she left her base, though, she was caught by a worried team member–Blade.

"Oh . . . hi, Blade." She yawned. "What's up?"

"Surprisingly, you." He didn't react when she rolled her eyes at him. "Are you alright? You haven't seemed to be at your best lately . . ."

"I've been having trouble sleeping, but I think I'm caught up now." Rubbing her eyes to try to dislodge the crust that had developed in her slumber, she tried to give him a reassuring smile. "Really, I'm fine now. Don't worry about me. Are there any missions to be done?"

He hesitated. "Yes, but . . . if you're not feeling well . . ."

She huffed, irritated by his reluctance. "Come on, Blade, I'm _fine–_can't you tell? Now let me check my mailbox." Pushing past him and rifling through her letters, she was about to withdraw into the base to sort through them when a rather flashy newsletter caught her eye. "Hey, what's this?" She let it float to the ground so they both could examine at it, and after skimming through it her jaw dropped in shock. "_What?_"

The absol looked grimly at the colorful title "Team Meanies Confronted for Past Crimes" as if he had known about it, and he grimaced when she gave him a rather upset look. "Kitsune, don't do anything rash–"

"When were you planning on telling me about this, huh? _After_ they got exiled?" He couldn't find his voice to reply with in time, so she scoffed angrily and whipped around, intent on visiting Gengar to get the full story. When he tried to stop her, she snapped, "Don't! I _won't_ let them run another innocent person out!" She raced into the darkness, not caring if he followed or not, and used her nose to pick up the sweet trail she had followed before. _I've got to hurry!_

Surprisingly, she wasn't led to Team Meanies' base; instead, she found herself traveling to Pokemon Square, and her heart plummeted as she heard an angry chorus coming from the center. "Great. They've already started." Pushing her way past Lombre and Granbull, she ran out into the center to come face-to-face with a sour ghost. "Gengar! Geez, the _one day_ I decide to take a holiday, and _you_ decide to get yourself in trouble."

He didn't respond to her, instead glancing around in anticipation as if expecting one of the villagers to attack at any moment. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she turned around to see everyone in town giving her an odd look, probably wondering why she was chatting with the ghost-type as if they were the best of pals. _Well, I'll have to set them straight, won't I?_ Clearing her throat, she asked loudly, "Okay, I'm afraid to ask, but–_what's_ going on, exactly?"

Shiftry scoffed, waving a leaf fan at the three–now four–pokemon they surrounded. "What do you think? We're finally getting rid of them!"

"Yeah!" Bellsprout, feeling rather bold with his fellow pokemon, shouted, "He's led us astray many times!"

As others shouted their agreements, Kitty's spirits plummeted. _How am I going to stop them now? It seems they've worked themselves up somehow._ Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she glanced over her shoulder try to give Gengar a reassuring nod. _I _won't_ let them do this. I promise._ Looking back at the crowd in front of her, she prepared herself for the worst. Raising her voice to be heard, she asked sarcastically, "So, we're going to have to go through this again, are we?"

The conversation paused for a moment, stunned by her words, and then curious whispers rang throughout the square. "_What's she doing? Is she defending them? Why would she be on _his_ side?_" Finally, Golem stepped forward to speak for them all, inquiring, "Are you saying we _shouldn't_ do this, Kitty?"

When she nodded, sounds of disbelief roared throughout the night air, but she quickly silenced them to explain her point. "Hey! Wait a second, guys! Do you remember how you did this the _last_ time? How you tried to get rid of a threat?" When the skeptical murmuring continued, she gritted her teeth in frustration. _Okay, you are _all_ retarded._ "Do you remember what happened in the end?"

"Well, yeah," Blastoise mumbled, "but that was _different._ That was _you,_ Kitty. We've learned from that."

Octillery added, her confusion obvious, "Why would we ever doubt you after _that,_ hun?"

The umbreon sighed in aggravation. "I don't know why, but you are _now,_ aren't you?" She growled when still no one seemed convinced. "Look, I know you _all_ think I'm crazy right about now, but I'm telling you, this is a _bad_ idea! _Very_ bad!"

"Yeah, right!" One of Shiftry's lackeys snorted. "About as bad as pulling out a splinter!" When snickering went throughout the crowd, Kitty closed her eyes and tried to draw upon her inner strength. _Remember, this isn't for you. It's for Gengar._

"Just give it up, Kitty." She was surprised to hear Medicham's resentful tone, and she turned around to look at the fighter's crossed arms and sour scowl. She waved a hand towards the others, snarling, "They _obviously_ won't listen to reason, because they've all taken leave of their senses!"

"Now, don't you start, you–"

"Why don't you say that to my face, you little–"

"Guys, guys, shut_ up!_" Kitty's voice cracked as she tried to keep her composure, and she cleared her throat before trying again, nearly panicking. "You guys may not have really looked, maybe because you don't _care,_ but there _is_ some good in him, okay? I've _seen_ it!"

Golem scoffed, "muttering" loudly, "Are you sure you aren't seeing things?" She groaned in frustration when a few laughs rose at his smart-alecky remark. _This is going nowhere, fast._ "You'd see the "good" in every criminal."

"Oh my _God,_ you guys are being difficult. _No,_ I'm not seeing things, although I _am_ seeing a bunch of stubborn _morons_ that won't listen to reason! Yes, Medicham was right!" As she received many scowls for her choice of words, she plowed on without regret, "There _is_ good in him, okay? It may be a tiny bit of good, smaller than a slowpoke's pupil, and it may be hidden beneath a _big_ layer of arrogance and mischief, but goddammit, it's _there._ I've _seen_ it." She paused to take a couple of breaths, letting the crowd whisper as she tried to gather her thoughts into a coherent idea. When they all suddenly grew silent, however, she frowned in confusion, and then she started when she felt a familiar claw on her shoulder.

"It's alright," Gengar muttered, and he was avoiding her gaze as if he didn't want to see her questioning expression. "Let it go, Kitty. It's not a big deal." His claw slid off of her shoulder, and her stomach clenched painfully when his teammates slowly followed him as he began to walk away. _No, no, no! Don't leave, Gengar! I can get through to them, I _know_ it!_

"Wait, Gengar–"

Shiftry snorted, shouting, "Yeah, good riddance!"

She spun on him in a flash and bared her teeth, snarling, "Shut _up!_" She didn't even bother to examine his stunned expression as she turned to the others, eyes flickering around the crowd as she searched for at least one uncertain face. _Come on, _someone_ has to believe me!_ Her heart was pounding as, with each step the ghost took, it grew harder to convince them that they were doing wrong.

"Kitty, calm down–"

"_No._ I will _not_ calm down." She glared at the crowd, trying to convey how frustrated she was with them all. "Don't you get it? This is a _mistake!_ Am I supposed to just sit back and watch as another innocent pokemon is _exiled?_"

" "Innocent?" Have you lost your _mind?_"

"I'm about to," she growled, "because _none_ of you are using _yours!_ You know, your _brains?_ The gray matter between your ears? You _have_ those, idiots! How about you _use_ them?" When no one responded, she groaned and cast a glance at the diminishing figures on the road, feeling desperate tears coming on. "What the hell do I have to do to _convince_ you guys? He's not _pure evil!_ Goddammit, he's–he's–"

"I believe you." The umbreon's heart nearly stopped as she saw the crowd separate to reveal her partner grinning reassuringly, and the venusaur stepped forward with big lumbering steps to stand beside her. She whispered conspiratorially, "Hold on, I don't think you'll want to miss this."

Kitty blinked away the tears, her exasperated expression replaced with a bewildered one. "What do . . . ?"

Everyone watched as the grass-type turned to face the direction the retreating team was, wincing when she used a vine to whistle shrilly. The three turned around in confusion, and then Sakura waved energetically at them, shouting, "I never got to thank you for finding Kitty! Get your asses over here!" The umbreon's jaw dropped, as did a few others', at her partner's unusual cursing. _Did I just hear that right? Maybe I need to get my ears checked . . ._

After a moment of hesitation, Team Meanies did as they were told, and when they were in proper earshot Ekans asked carefully, "Yes, Sakura?"

The venusaur stretched a vine over to Medicham, and when she hesitated Sakura joked, "Come on, you _know_ it takes a lot of patience to deal with Kitty. You deserve a handshake, at least." As Kitty gave a small indignant "hey," the fighter grinned and agreed wholeheartedly, finally taking the offer and shook the vine looking rather pleased. The grass-type then turned to the crowd surrounding them, clearing her throat to project her voice throughout the square. "I know it's hard to believe, but these guys have done some good deeds recently. Although you can never change the past, they're at least _trying_ to be better people. Why can't you let them? There's a chance that they'll become a close friend of any of you–like they're friends of Kitty and I." The expressions on Team Meanies' faces, and everyone else's for that matter, showed that no one had expected her support for the pokemon that had harassed them for months.

Lombre scoffed, mumbling, "As if _I'd_ be their friend . . ." Several others agreed with him, obviously disturbed by the idea of befriending people who had betrayed them in the past.

Kitty, not one to be outdone even by her partner, promptly asked, "Why not? Because you're too proud to admit that you have faults, too?" When he narrowed his eyes and frowned, she went on as her determination grew once more with confidence. "I have a problem of judging people before I get to know them, too. We've _all_ had that problem. You shouldn't let appearances or past actions shape a person's reputation, but what they do and say _now_. People change–even Gengar."

Kangaskhan, who had been the only one to stay quiet throughout all of this, finally spoke up, her soft and warm voice greatly contrasting with the others' accusatory tones. "You know what? I'd like to hear what _Gengar_ has to say about this. Hm?" All eyes turned to him, and the normal-type gently coaxed, "Go on, dear. You can defend yourself too, you know."

Gengar frowned at the sudden attention he earned, eyes flickering all around as he began to grow uncomfortable under their intense scrutiny. "Ugegeh . . . nothing I say will be believed. It's pointless for me to talk."

"No, it's not." Everyone looked around in confusion except Sakura, who smiled knowingly as a giant orange dragon stepped forward from the crowd, starting up another wave of whispers. "_Is that Charizard from Team A.C.T.? No, it can't be. I think that's a different one. Oh, right, his name is Har._" Curious gazes focused on the newcomer's easygoing smile, and he nodded encouragingly towards the ghost. "You shouldn't be afraid to speak your thoughts–especially if you want people to know the truth."

Kitty grinned and leaned over to whisper into her partner's ear, "I can see why you like the guy."

Sakura blushed lightly at the comment, and she grumbled, "Shut up."

"Ugegeh . . ." Gengar glanced between his teammates, Kangaskhan, Har and Team Foxfire, examining their supportive smiles and smirks before scowling and standing up a bit taller. "Alright, fine! Geh . . ." Fixing the crowd with a glare, he thought over his words carefully before he went on, knowing how much was at stake here. ". . . I know there's a lot I still have to make up for. There are even some things _you guys_ don't know about that I have to fix. But, I can't very well fix anything if I'm kicked out of town before I finish. You could put me on "probation" or whatever–I don't care. I'm not going to beg for forgiveness from you guys." Slowly, his eyes wandered over to the group–particularly the umbreon–behind him, and he muttered, "I've already got it from people who matter."

Kitty's heart skipped a beat at his quiet confession, but Har supported him with a loud, "Hear, hear!" The others roared their approval as well, and soon doubt had begun to trickle into the whispers in the crowd. "_Maybe we _are_ being too hard on them. Do you really think they could change? Well, shouldn't we give them a chance to try first?_"

The umbreon was satisfied with the atmosphere in town now, and she stepped forward to stand beside Gengar as the chatter went on. "Kind of nice to hear them change their tune, huh?" He stared at her mutely, as if unable to find a proper way to thank her. She simply smiled warmly and shook her head, whispering, "It's okay, Gengar. No need to thank me. I'm just glad–" She nearly choked on her words, and she had to clear her throat to bring her voice back to normal. "I'm glad they didn't run you guys out."

He only got to nod before she was suddenly forced around by Sakura's vines to be crushed into her side, and the venusaur squealed excitedly, "We did it, Kitty! They're staying!" Swinging her around giddily for a bit, she set her down abruptly and turned to Har as her face warmed up shyly. "O-oh, and thank _you,_ Har. We really appreciate your help!"

He shook his head with a smile. "No need to thank me, Sakura. I don't like it when pokemon gang up on others."

"Oh, but still, th-that was rather nice of you . . ."

The umbreon snuck away to see the crowd had begun to disperse, and she watched with satisfaction as the residents of Pokemon Square all went to go to bed and think over what had happened that night. _I'm glad that, with the help of my friends, they got to see it _my_ way._ Her tail began to wag as her abundant joy looked for a way out, and she grinned goofily at the strange sensation. _I haven't wagged my tail in a while! I normally have to be _very_ happy._ This was just the kind of occasion she figured she'd do so, when she managed to pull through with a difficult victory. She was brought out of her musings by a soft rattle, and she glanced to her side to see Ekans sitting calmly as if he had been waiting for a while. _Oh, did I space out?_ "Sorry, I'm just really happy. What's up?"

He hesitated for a moment, but then he shook himself out of it and went on with what he'd wanted to say. "Thank you, Kitty. I mean it." When she went to brush his thanks off, he stopped her quickly. "Medicham's too proud to say so, and Gengar's a bit . . . shell-shocked, but we're all really grateful. I know _I_ was surprised that you stood up for us."

She smiled, mumbling, "I promised that I would . . . and I always keep my word."

* * *

><p>If there had been any doubts that Gengar wanted to be friends or more, it was systematically blown out of the water.<p>

It all started when, out of curiosity, she went over to Team Meanies' base to see how they were doing. She had been a little worried that a few people would still heckle them despite the speech, but there were no signs of visitors whenever she went over there and so she had learned to trust her fellow pokemon more. This time, though, the base seemed completely empty, and she tentatively knocked on the door to make absolutely sure no one was there before frowning in confusion. _Where'd they all go? Did they have a mission?_ She then immediately reprimanded herself for expecting them to hang around and wait for her, realizing that while others were still wary, requests were sent to Gengar's team regardless. _They're not going to just drop everything so I can talk to them or anything._

Before she could leave to return home, however, the door creaked open, causing her to jump as Gengar surprised her by poking his head out of the door to examine her. Immediately, his eyebrows rose in shock at her presence, and he gestured quickly for her to step inside before closing the door behind her. "What is it, Kitty?" His tone was anxious, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

"Uh . . ." She blinked and shook away the amazement, shutting her jaw with an audible _click_. "Oh, I was just coming over to check on you guys. Where's the rest of your team?"

"Still on their escort mission," he explained, waving a claw casually to dismiss their absence as coincidence. "Although, it makes it a lot easier."

Kitty frowned. She was a bit afraid to ask, but her curiosity won over her dread. She carefully inquired, "It makes _what_ easier?"

Gengar's mouth opened, closed, and then opened again before he sighed and motioned for her to sit down as he took a seat at his desk. Alert as a sentret, she obeyed his silent command, waiting nervously for whatever it was he wanted to tell her. If she was to be honest, she would admit that she was a bit frightened that she would learn the answer to her never-ending questions and wouldn't like it, but she didn't move to stop him when he opened his mouth once more. "I . . . I want to go to Mt. Freeze to talk to Ninetales again."

She slowly released the breath she had been holding, feeling mildly relieved yet slightly disappointed in his request. _What was I expecting?_ "Alright," she conceded with a nod, "I can arrange that." It was simple enough, really; he had obviously failed in convincing Ninetales of . . . whatever it was he was trying to convince her of. _What did he want with her, again? I can't remember. Something about him being human, I'm sure._

He wasn't finished, though. He cleared his throat to show he had more to say, but his voice was rather quiet when he did speak. ". . . Alone."

Her heart nearly stopped, and she almost choked on air as she parroted, "Alone?" _As in, you go off alone, or you and me . . . alone?_ When he nodded tensely, she knew right away he meant the second option, and she tried not to reveal how anxious she was as she steadied her voice. "Okay, alone . . ." _Why am I afraid to ask why?_ She really didn't want to know the reason behind his conditions, but at the same time she desperately did. Struck with indecision, she postponed the questioning with a shake of her head. _It's not important now; I have to find a time to sneak away from Sakura so she doesn't ask any odd questions._ Already formulating a plan in her mind, she cocked her head to the side and asked, "Is tomorrow good?"

He nodded quickly, as if afraid she'd change her mind if he didn't agree fast enough, and she gulped to dislodge the lump in her throat threatening to crack her voice. "Alrighty, then! I'll, uh, see you tomorrow!" She stood up in too much of a hurry, but she didn't have time to fix her mistakes as she turned tail and tried to fast-walk out the door. _Please don't stop me, please don't stop me, please don't–_

"Wait!"

She froze in place, closing her eyes with a wince. _Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me. Even if he was _psychic_-type, he'd still be terrible at this._ Taking a deep breath, she turned around and looked at him as calmly as possible, keeping her expression as neutral as she could while inside she panicked. When he didn't immediately say what he stopped her for, she hummed, "Well . . . ?"

He seemed to snap out of his thoughts and stared at her, making her nervous as his eyes flickered across her face as if searching for something in particular. Finally, when he didn't seem to find anything, he released a heavy sigh and tore his gaze away from her, gritting his teeth. "The less that know," he warned quietly, "the better."

She nodded, although he would only be able to barely spot the motion from the corner of his eye. "Right," she muttered lamely, and then she turned around to fly out the door as if the devil was on her heels, not giving him the chance to stop her again and prolong her stay. _I should've stayed home, I should've stayed home,_ she chanted, cursing herself for being so paranoid. _I should've slept in or something, or gone on a mission, or . . . or . . . gah!_ When she entered the safety of her own base, she covered her head with her paws and moaned in misery at the many stupid decisions she had made that day. _Oh, what am I gonna do?_

* * *

><p>"Gengar? Gengar, we're <em>baaaack!<em>"

Ekans poked his head into the base, suggesting, "Maybe he's still out?" He examined the desk where the normally scattered letters were organized into two piles, frowning when he noticed the requests on the tops hadn't changed before glancing around the rest of the room. Dismissing what he had just told her, he called out, "Gengar? Are you still here, or did you leave again?"

"I think by now, we can figure he's not here." The fighting-type snorted as she turned her head from side-to-side, but then a paper that stuck out from under the front door caught her. She walked over and picked it up, mumbling aloud, "What's this?" Opening it and scanning it, she nearly choked in surprise. "I-it's Gengar's handwriting!"

"What?" Ekans straightened up onto the end up his tail to see over her shoulder, and he read aloud while she read along with him, " _"Medicham, Ekans, don't freak out. I'm perfectly fine. Well, right _now_ I am, but I'm not exactly sure if I _will_ be." _"

Medicham drew back in confusion. "What does _that_ mean?"

"I don't know. _"I'm off doing some personal business, and I should be back in a few days. If I'm not, well, you know the drill."_ Well, yeah, we know the drill . . ." The snake gave a reluctant sigh. "But that doesn't mean we don't worry about you, boss . . ."

"Oh, stop being so sappy about it, Ekans!" She held it up to the light to take a closer look, deciphering the messy cursive as he waited patiently for her comments. Finally, her surprise squawk alerted him to something important, and she handed it over to him as she stuttered, "Gengar–he was–all this time, he–"

When he read over what had shocked her, his eyes widened significantly. "All of this time, _he_ was the human in the legend? This isn't a joke, is it?" No matter what way he looked at it, though, he couldn't find the sense of humor he knew Gengar for. This was for real. "Wow . . . what a secret. And–wait, _what?_"

"Let me see, let me see!" She pestered him for the paper until she finally snatched it from him, and she skimmed the lines afterwards to make another startling discovery. "He's going to try to break the curse! No _wonder_ he left a cryptic message about his return. How's he gonna do it, though?"

"I don't think he knows," Ekans muttered, "which is why he's so unsure of when he'll be back. For all we know, breaking the curse might mean putting _him_ in her stead."

"What?" Medicham stared at the paper in amazement, and she breathed, "Why would he go to such lengths to free her? She's already under the curse, so she might as well just live with it!" After a while of absorbing this massive overload of information, she suddenly straightened up and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Unless it was that goody-goody's idea in the first place!"

"Hm. No," the snake argued, "I don't think she has him by the ear. I think . . . he decided to do this himself."

* * *

><p>To say she was uncomfortable would have been such an understatement that Zapdos would've come down from the top of Mt. Thunder and punished the understater with a bolt of lightning. Every time she felt the barest of touches from her ghostly companion, her muscles would tense up and she would try to discreetly edge away from him. He had opted on not relying on quick seeds this time since the party was so small they made good time just by fast-walking, but it still prolonged the journey and the amount of time she spent with him. She was afraid to consider whether or not he did that on purpose. She was quite silent for most of the trip there, choosing not to remark on the temperature changes that would normally elicit a negative response from her. She knew she should at least try to act normal, but when you had a habit of looking at others while you were talking, it was hazardous to attempt conversation with someone you really didn't want to lock gazes with. She was paranoid that her eyes might give away her secrets, or vise versa.<p>

She didn't pay much attention to the trip, too intent on ignoring Gengar to care, so she was a bit surprised when they reached the foot of Mt. Freeze just before the sun rose above the horizon. She glanced uncertainly at the ghost-type, wondering whether to go on or to take a break, and then he finally caught her stare as he frowned thoughtfully. She quickly averted her gaze, but she had noticed the confused and troubled way he had looked to her, trying to figure out what was making her so quiet. She knew she hadn't been the sneakiest of pokemon, but she had faintly hoped that he wouldn't worry too much about it; it was unfortunate that it didn't work out the way she had hoped it would.

She swallowed twice before mumbling, "Keep going, or rest?" She had decided that as long as she said the least amount of words to him, she wouldn't experience anything too life-changing or irreversible. She watched him contemplate out of the corner of her eye, and when he finally muttered that they weren't going any further in the blinding sun she was all too glad to curl up beneath a pine tree and attempt to take a nap. She could feel his eyes boring holes into her back, but she tried her best to ignore it as she focused on slowing her breathing, if only to make him think she was asleep if she couldn't actually achieve it.

When the sun was starting on its descent back to the horizon, Kitty had finally gotten a few hours worth of rest, and she was a bit less jumpy as she stretched her paws out and gave a mighty yawn. She opened her eyes and glanced around to find her companion propped up on the other side of the tree, eyes scrunched tightly as a frown showed his displeasure. She figured he was having a nightmare of sorts, and although she didn't want to disturb him the decision was made for her when a beautiful pile of snow slipped from a branch and smacked him in the face. He yelped and leapt to his feet, eyes wide with terror as he looked for his assailant. When all he found was a pile of snow and a snorting umbreon, he scowled and shook the rest of the snow off of him, turning his back to her as he tried to get over his embarrassment. She felt slightly bad for giggling, but she had needed a good laugh for a while. It certainly lightened up her mood.

Her ears perked up curiously as she examined his spiky back, and she suggested they eat breakfast before going up–no sense in traveling on an empty stomach, she told him, and he caved in rather easily as they ate a berry each. It was only when she realized she had been chewing the same piece of her chesto berry for quite some time that she figured out she was subconsciously stalling, and she frowned thoughtfully as she wondered why she did it. _Do I feel guilty about the quiet trip here?_ Indeed, she did, as she realized she had been rather cold to him–no pun intended–simply because she felt nervous. Deciding to suck it up and put it all behind her, she turned to the ghost eating a pecha berry and asked quietly, "So, um, you haven't had any trouble at all, right?" She just had to make sure.

Gengar frowned, not quite understanding what she meant, but eventually it became clear and he nodded in realization. "No, no problems. Other than the usual, of course." At her confused glance, he clarified, "Medicham and Ekans. They bicker like a doduo over dinner."

She smiled at the image that conjured up, and she joked, "I've met doduo that were mellower than them." _And promptly knocked them out,_ she added to herself. She tried to sustain small talk with him until she realized something important was on his mind, and then she mulled over what to do before she took a deep, preparatory breath and plunged headfirst into the topic. "What are you going to do when we get to the top?"

He sighed heavily, as if he wasn't exactly sure himself. "I'm going to _try_ to figure out more about the curse . . ." When she didn't seem to get it, only giving him a blank stare, he frowned. "_Her_ curse. Geh . . . G-Gardevoir's curse." Her sharp intake of breath signified recognition, and he nodded grimly as he stared at the half-eaten berry in his claws. "I became Gengar because I screwed up, so I'm going to fix what I did. I'll break her free of that curse."

Kitty's eyes widened, surprised at his confession. _He's really going to help her? Wow . . . but . . ._ Her eyes darted from his claws to her own paws, and she made a startling comparison. _If he came to this world because of Gardevoir . . . does that mean that he'll return to the human world once he frees her?_ It was so startlingly similar to her own journey that she gasped in astonishment, and as the ghost's eyes locked onto her she felt herself suddenly grow so cold that the snow felt warm to her. _Does that mean . . . he'll leave?_ Trying and failing to swallow the lump that interrupted proper airflow, she choked out, "Do you think . . . do you think you'll . . . go _back?_" She didn't dare look up at him, too afraid of what she'd find staring back at her as she tried to control her emotions. _Don't freak out, you stupid, stupid fox!_

". . . I-I don't know." His honest answer caused her to feel relieved and worried simultaneously, and as she combated the conflicting emotions he went on, "I hadn't thought of that. I just . . . felt it was the right thing to do."

_Oh, that certainly rings a bell._ Kitty gave a soft, pitiful laugh, and she warily raised her head to answer his questioning gaze with a bittersweet smile. "It sounds so . . . so familiar. Except I–" She had to swallow again. "I fully expected to die. D-don't you dare die on me, though . . . okay?"

He was concerned with her tortured expression, but he didn't ask questions about it as he nodded solemnly. "I won't," he added for effect, as if not sure she would believe him otherwise. He didn't expect her to reach out with a leg to graze his arm, stunning him into dropping his unfinished berry, but he grasped the paw carefully and gave her a curious look.

"You promise? I-I don't want all of my hard work to equate to nothing, because then I'll be very pissed, and I'm not fun when I'm pissed, remember?"

His expression softened at her rambling, and he reassured her by clasping both of his claws around her paw. "I promise," he mumbled.

Kitty smiled at his pledge, knowing that he hadn't a clue what breaking Gardevoir's curse would require and that he might have to go back on his promise. _But the sentiment is still there,_ she argued, and she was faintly comforted by that fact as she closed her eyes and finally let her tears fall. He'd become too important to her, she realized, and if she ever had to let him go forever, it would break her heart–just like having to choose between staying with Sakura and returning home nearly did. _I don't think I have the strength to go through that again._ She could only hope it didn't have to come to that. Claws grazed her face to gently wipe away the tears, and she licked one as it passed her nose without thinking, only realizing what she did when it was far too late. She opened her eyes and examined his surprised expression as her cheeks heated up in embarrassment, and she muttered in justification, "Uh, side effect of being a pokemon . . . ?" The taste of salt on her tongue felt like a sin all of a sudden, and she tried to figure out what a lick meant to a fox–or a ghost, for that matter.

He blinked in shock for another heartbeat, apparently at a loss of how to respond, before a small grin found its way onto his face and he ruffled the fur on the top of her head. "What'd I say," he told her teasingly, "last time we were here? You're turning into more and more of a pokemon everyday." Flicking her nose softly and snickering at the face she made, he got up and dusted himself off before gesturing for her to do the same. "We have a pretty long climb ahead of us."

She nodded, finding she was eager to begin even if it meant getting closer to Gengar's uncertain fate, as he seemed to be prepared to face anything in any case. _If he can face his destiny head-on,_ she decided, _then so can I. I've done it before, haven't I? And I won!_ She felt his determination give her strength, and she held her head high as she trotted alongside him up the incline and onto Mt. Freeze itself._ I'm sure that he'll win, too._

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: To be honest, I think the ending of this chapter is a pretty good stopping point for the story, albeit abrupt because it wasn't the planned ending for the story. The thought of Kitty being faithful to Gengar and going with him to look for a way to break the curse warms my heart-but maybe I'm just too much of a romantic when it comes to my own writing. Anyway, if you'd like an outline of what would have happened afterward, tell me so, and I'll probably post it as the fifth chapter.

Until then,

_Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),  
>~DL ("Dragon Lover")<em>


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